The Ghost of Phantasma
by JMsoccer35
Summary: READ The Ghost of the Opera FIRST! Erik and Roxanne are back in a new adventure just as thrilling as their previous. Now set in Coney Island. A couple of twists that will be more entertaining than the last fanfic
1. Chapter 1

READ THE GHOST OF THE OPERA BEFORE THIS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

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Chapter 1

"Your son was fighting during recess Mrs. Destler" The Principal argued pointing at my son accusingly. His overly neat officer was so alarming that I could see why I had heard from Alexander complaining about him.

"I don't doubt that he did." I agreed glaring at Alexander. He sank back into his chair to try and hide from it. I turned my glare to his principal. Like Alexander he shrank back in his big chair. "But I don't believe he would do so without cause."

"The boys that he beat to a pulp say that he attacked them for no reason!"

"I see. Who are these boys that which you speak of? Why do you think that they are the victims? Could it be that they are lying and Alexander is covering for something or someone?"Ange fidgeted in my lap growing ever more impatient as any normal three year old would. She pulled her blonde hair out of her butterfly barrette. I placed it back into her hair and kissed her on her head. I could hear her start to whine to me in a mixture of French and English. "As you can see my toddler is getting quite restless so we must be on our way."

The Principal stood up. "We are not done here yet."

"Yes we are! Now if there is anything else you would like to tell me then we will arrange to have a discussion another time. Good day to you, sir!" I got up holding Ange's hand and Alexander trailed behind me. We walked to the door. "Stick that tongue back in your mouth Alexander. You are not a frog."

He hurried to walk beside me and we walked out of the Principal's office and through the empty hallways of the school. "Are you going to tell me what is going on?"

He shook his head. "No."

"I see." I said. We opened the front door and walked down the steps of the school. We were at the bottom of the steps near the car. Taking my keys out of my pocket I unlocked the car. Putting Ange into her car seat I turned to Alexander to tell him to get in it. But he was talking to a little girl with black braids and a yellow sundress. I waited until he left with a nod and to the car. He opened the door and sat inside with his arms crossed.

I walked over to the little girl. She looked at me wide eyed. "You are the famous painter, Roxanne Destler.

"I'm Alexander's mother."

"Your husband is Erik Destler the legendary composer and musician."

"Yes, that is Alexander's father. What's your name, dear?"

"Sophia, Mrs. Destler."

"It is nice to meet you." I greeted shaking her tiny hand.

He eyes grew wide. "It is nice to meet you too."

"Are you one of Alexander's friends? I don't believe I have had the pleasure in meeting any of his friends from school."

"I'm the only friend he's got. Alexander is the kindest person I know. He even got into a fight because of me."

"Why is that?"

She looked at her left arm. I notice that she didn't have a hand. There was only a stump. "The other boys were teasing me. Alexander was the only one who stood up for me."

"I see." I nodded.

"I have to go or I'll get in trouble. It was nice meeting you Mrs. Destler." Then she ran back inside the school.

I walked to the car and got into the driver's seat. I drove away from the school to home. Smiling slyly I looked in the mirror. "Your father would love to hear what you did today."

Alexander's eyes grew wide. He grabbed the back of my chair. "He will kill me. He'll take away my music until I am at least in college. No please don't tell Dad. I won't survive if I can't play the piano or my violin."

"I won't." I promised him knowing full well what his father would do to punish Alexander. Both of them loved their music so much that they would spend hours at a time composing and practicing together. But I thought it would punish Erik more than anyone if he couldn't teach his son music for that long of time. It would be my punishment to the two of them if they did something wrong. Alexander was his father son. "It will be our little secret."

"Daddy?" Ange asked. "Where is Daddy?"

"He's in France. He is visiting some old friends." I told her.

Ange started to cry. "I miss my Daddy."

"He's on a long trip but will be back soon." Alexander comforted his little sister.

He tickled her in her seat that sent her into a fit of giggles. "Alex, stop it! Hehehe! It tickles!"

At her command he stopped.

"Don't cry anymore, Little Angel. You are cuter when you laugh." Alexander told her and handed her the doll which she had left on the seat between them. He turned his attention to me. "I just wish that he wouldn't go there for such a long time."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "You are such a Drama King like your father."

"But he has been gone for a month."

"I know but he hasn't been there since his father died." I vouched. "It is only until the end of the month."

"He never takes us there. We have never gone anywhere."

"Well at the end of the month we will meet you Father in New York City."

"Are you serious?!" Alexander asked. "New York, New York?"

"Do you know any other New York?"

"Do I get to go?" Ange asked rocking her dolly.

"Maybe next time, Ange."

"You will be at Grandma's and Grandpa's house while Alexander and mommy meet Daddy in New York."

"Does that mean we can go to Coney Island and see the freak show?"

"No." I said my voice shaking.

"Why not?"

The thought of Erik going to see a freak show after what happened to him came to mind. "There are no longer any freak shows around on Coney island. Instead there are rides and attractions."

"Alright."

"However you have to promise that you will behave until then."

"I will, I promise."

…..

New York was a hustle and bustling sort of town that was different than Paris. I was surprised and amazed looking at the extensive crowd. What more is to be said; New York City is New York City. Everyone has seen a movie or been there to know how hectic it all is. There were a million different sights and smells around us. The sidewalks were crowded with people. Alexander and I went to check into the hotel.

"What are we going to do first when Dad comes?" Alexander inquired cheerfully.

I looked in my notebook that I had written down what we had discussed what it was that we both wanted to do. "It looks like we are going to Coney Island first."

"Sweet." He said when we reached the front desk.

"How may I help you today?" The man at the front desk was busily typing away barely looking up when he asked. He was extremely thin that he looked like he was made of only bones. Looking up finally I could see his piercing blue eyes. He looked from my son to me and smiled. "We have been expecting you Mrs. Destler." He handed me a room Key. "Your room number is 665."

I took the key and thanked the man for his help. We walked to the elevator.

"Well that was creepy." Alexander said looking over his shoulder and shuddered.

I rustled his jet black hair. "It felt like something from the twilight zone."

Alexander began to laugh so hard he began to chortle. I laughed with him until the elevator door opened. Stepping inside we waited to get to our floor.

When we got to our room I put down my suitcase and Alexander had jumped on the queen size bed. I looked around with wide eyes. It looked more like a penthouse than a room. It was so spacious. There was a small kitchen with a stove and a large refrigerator that stood tall. I couldn't believe Erik would have us stay in such a grand room. Sometimes I was astounded by the actions that he took. It had the Victorian look that reminded me of the time in France. It brought tears to my eyes.

"Mom, look I get a room to myself and the bathroom is so big!" Alexander started to explore through the different rooms. He ran to the balcony and shouted "Look at the view!"

I put my coat down and noticed something on the table. Walking over I picked up the piece of paper and read:

"Dear Roxanne,

I hope everything is to your liking. I made sure that it would be perfect for my beautiful family. I regret that I was unable to be the first to greet you to the Big Apple but when I come to see you we'll see the sights of New York together. You cannot know how much I have missed you and the children this last month. I love you.

Your Angel of Music, Erik"

A smile formed as I read each of his words. **That little devil.** He always found a way make me smile. I shook my head and placed the note down to join Alexander on the balcony. It had been a while since I have been to a large city that it overwhelmed me. In the suburbs where we had settled it was quieter. The sounds of the cars honked and roared at each other arguing over each other's driving. The city lights at night glowed and shimmered like a thousand sparkling diamonds on each roof top. The cool air felt good as I looked out over the city. "Pretty cool ain't it?"

"Yeah," He stared out with me. We stayed like that for a while. Neither one of us wanted to talk in fear that we might ruin the good mood. But Alexander finally interrupted the silence with a question. "Can we go to the pier?"

"Sure. Grab your coat and let's go."

That boy ran faster out of that hotel than I have ever seen someone run. He got his coat and was racing out of the hotel. Running after him I caught up to him at the bottom of the hotel's steps. I called a cab and told him where we wanted to go. Alexander was already in the back seat waiting for me to sit beside him. I had never seen him so excited in his whole life. He usually was well kept and quiet like his father but now he was bouncing off the taxi's walls in excitement. I was afraid that he would jump out the window and run all the way to the pier. As we drove I realized that I had forgotten to take my phone and my purse. I had only enough money for the drive there and back. Cursing my forgetfulness I looked out the window to see the streets of New York.

**I hope Alexander doesn't want to do anything besides walking on the pier because if he does we'd be walking back to our hotel later.**

When we finally reached our destination he jumped out of the cab and ran to the dock. I paid the driver and walked to stand beside him. Alexander turned and leaned against the railing to look back at the city. He stared at it in amazement. "I wonder what it would look like in 1905."

"Why that specific year?"

"I don't know."

I sighed. The smell of the salty water wrapped around us like a warm blanket. I looked out across the water and imagined the amount of famous ships that would dock there. The sound of the water splashing against the wood was soothing and relaxing to hear.

"Mom, have you ever wanted to go back in time and live someone else's life for a day?" Alexander asked.

I drummed my fingers against the railing. My memory of those twenty years ago was still fresh in my mind. It played through my mind whenever I had a hard time falling asleep when Alexander was small. Looking out across the water I sighed. "Once, a long time ago."

He nodded. "I sometimes dream that I am with this little boy. He looks just like me and everything. We both like to play the piano and make others dance when we play our own music. His mother is a singer and sometimes she will sing him to sleep after he has a nightmare like you do. He is happy most of the time but his dad doesn't notice him most of the time. Usually his dad is out drinking and gambling and it makes his mom sad. He cries often too. I tell him to be brave but most of the time he is just scared and won't talk to me. I feel connected to him. Is it weird that I am dreaming about this sort of person?"

"No," I shook my head. "I don't think it's weird. I had a dream like that when I was a little older than you."

Alexander smiled and leaned on the railing more. "Thanks mom."

What happened next scared me near to death. The railing snapped and he fell into the waters below. I cried out his name and jumped in after him. When I hit the cold water it felt like a thousand needles were poking into my skin. I opened my eyes. I peered through the water and found my son trying to swim to the surface. He wasn't moving anywhere though. It was like something was pulling him down to the bottom below. I swam over to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. We kicked as hard as we could. There was nothing wrapped around our legs. Whatever was pulling him down was dragging me along with it. It was getting hard to think. My lungs started to burn for air. My vision blurred. I looked up to the surface and saw a figure start to swim down towards us. Then the water went black.

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Love Never Dies.**

**Coney isle. Glistening and glimmering. Rising bright, Drenched with light. See it smile Beckoning and shimmering. All agleam like a dream.Every fantasy set free**

**So please review.**

**Hi everyone. I'm back and so are Roxanne and Erik and their family. I hope you like it. While writing this chapter I was watching Love Never Dies. Now I must say that I like the idea of Love Never Dies and I thought it would make a good sequel to The Ghost of the Opera so this was born. Hope you all like it.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Christine Daaé, are you alright?" Someone asked me. The voice was nasally and when they said Daaé it sounded more like Day. It was a rather annoying voice like a nosy New Yorker. It reminded me of a reporter that I had seen on the News.

The wind was freezing and when it flew right through me I shivered. Someone wrapped their arms around my shivering body to keep me warm. I relaxed. It was nice and warm that all of the coldness melted away. It was so wonderful that I didn't want to ever wake up/ A familiar voice whispered in my ear softly. "Christine."

My eyes opened. I looked up and saw a familiar face. He hugged me tightly. I felt his tears as it hit my face when he placed his forehead on mine. He was smiling and laughing. It was Raoul. He had a bit of stubble on his face that felt scratchy when I touched his face in disbelief. I touched his drenched hair and smiled as I looked into his eyes. There was the sparkle that I remembered from so long ago. But it couldn't be him. He looked like he only aged ten years instead of twenty.

"You gave us quite a scare." Raoul said.

I was wrapped in a blanket or towel and was sopping wet. I felt the heavy skirts of a wet dress weigh me down. The drenched clothes made it hard to move. I sat up in his arms and held my head. I must have hit my head when I hit the bottom when I was saving Alex... "Is my son alright? Where is my son?"

"You were very brave to go in after you son fell off the pier." A man complimented. I looked up and saw that there was a crowd of people that were circle around us.

"That is a mother thing."A woman stepped toward us. "Mothers will always protect their children. They would rather risk their life than their child's."

"I'm right here." Alexander chimed. He lay beside me. Rubbing his eyes he yawned. "I had the weirdest dream ever. I dreamed that I fell of the pier and I was drowning."

Someone stepped towards us. He had a notebook in his hand and smile too widely. He nudged Alexander on the shoulder. "That's cause you almost did, kid."

Then his eyes flew open and Alexander jumped to his feet. He looked around frantically at the group of people. I could see the split second that he started to panic. He was so close to start to accuse everyone around him and spout nonsense that was not needed to be said. So I pulled him down by the sleeve. He landed right beside me and I hugged him tightly.

In his ear I whispered "Remember when you told me about the boy in your dream? Act like him. Think of it like a character from a movie. If you don't do this then I will personally hang you by your thumbs. Got it?"

"Got it!" He squeaked. "But where are we any way? Last I remember was nearly drowning. Now I'm dressed up like I'm Sherlock Holmes. What is going on?"

I smiled mischievously and released him. Giving him a kiss on the top of his head I ruffled his hair. "I'll explain later."

"Christine, look this way." A man with a camera pleaded.

"Christine!"

"Over here Christine!"

Alexander looked up and motioned me to listen. I bent down so that Alexander could whisper in my ear. "Why do they keep calling you Christine?"

"Because in this time they think I am Christine Daaé and you are Gustave. Remember when we watched the sequel to Phantom of the Opera and you said that it was useless." I whispered. He nodded, yet he still did not fully grasping what I am hinting at. Rolling my eyes I said "Well you're in it."

His hazel eyes grew to be the size of saucers. I held in a laugh and tried to pay attention to the sea of journalists in front of me.

We stood up and I rested a hand on his shoulder. A reporter raised his hand. "Hey, hey Christine, why Coney Island? It is your first concert in years; why are you performing at Phantasma?"

Putting on a fake smile, I stated. "I have some friends that have taken residents on Coney Island. They must have asked the owner to let me perform."

"Have you ever met Mr. Y?" The journalist asked.

_Mr. Y. Phantasma? Oh dear God no._ My heart sank in my chest. I became weak in the knees. I felt like I was about to faint so that I put my hands on Alexander's shoulders. My mind was spinning. It was a nightmare come true. If that was what I had thought it was then I didn't want to stick around for the end.

"No, but we have heard good things about him." Raoul explained.

"Heard of him?" The reporter looked wide eyed. "No one has seen or heard of the man. He is like a ghost that Mr. Y."

A man laughed. "Yeah, _The Ghost of Phantasma_."

Raoul's temper seemed to start to boil. His eyes grew wide with fury that shone in his eyes. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me through the crowd. I took my son's hand so that I would not lose him. "You have heard her answer, now leave us be."

"Hey kid! Look over here!"

"No pictures of my wife. No pictures of the boy. No pictures!" He ordered trying to navigate through the reporters.

"Hey kid, how's it feel to have a famous mother?"

"Uh." Alexander mumbled. He was cut short by another question.

"First time in America?"

Alexander gave a quiet snort. I gave a sharp jab in his side. He glared at me but I shook my head and smiled back at the presses again.

"What do you plan to do in Coney, kid?"

Alexander stepped forward in front of Raoul. He put his hands into his trousers pockets and gave a big smile. "I want to visit the amusement park. Then maybe I will learn how to swim. I think I still need a little practice, don't you think?"

The crowd erupted in laughter. I giggled at my son's ability to win over a crowd with only his smile. The journalist turned their attention to try to fry a weaker fish.

"Hey, how do you lower great Christine Daaé over here anyway? It's the money, right?

Another journalist stepped into the conversation. "Yeah all that American moolah."

"It is for your husband's drink ain't it?"

"How dare you?!" Raoul exclaimed, putting himself between me and the reporter's. "My wife is an Artist!"

"Yeah, and her art is payin' off your gamblin' debts. It's what they're sayin' in France. It's gotta be true if they are sayin' it."

"They say that you lost all of that fortune on a roulette table in Monte Carlo, is that true."

"What are you going to sing?" A different man asked. He wore a brown bowler cap and an old dirty shirt that reeked of sweat even from ten yards away. A cigar was wedged in his mouth like a huge sausage. There was so much blubber on him that when he had laughed his whole body shook. He slapped his buddy's arm. "Yankee Doodle Moolah."

The crowd began to laugh like a band of hyenas. Raoul grew evermore angrier at them. I watched them until they quieted down. Taking a deep breath I stepped forward in front of Raoul. With a Hollywood smile I stated "That sounds like a splendid idea. How about a rendition of: _What you going to do when the rent comes 'round_?"

All of the reporters began to laugh so hard that they were clutching their sides. Raoul stared at me with surprised eyes. Everyone, except Raoul, clapped and cheered. I smiled and took a small curtsy and wrapped myself tighter in my towel. The rain started. Everyone pulled out their umbrella's umbrella. I shivered as I held Alexander to keep us both warm. Then we were suddenly shaded. I looked over our heads and found that Raoul was keeping us dry. I gave him a small smile.

I felt a pull on my towel. I looked down at Alexander.

"Mother, look across the square. What is it? It's strange; I have never seen anything like it before."Alexander pointed in the direction he was talking about. It was very strange indeed because there was no horse pulling it. There must have been a mechanism inside the carriage that was allowing it to move. It felt so dark that there was no sign of light or hope in the aura that surrounded the carriage. I looked at him and he grabbed my arm. In an instant my brave ten year old, who was afraid of nothing, turned into a frightened boy. "I have a funny feeling about this."

My attention turned back to the dark carriage was coming toward us. The crowd froze; they were entranced by the sight. When it reached us there was a collective gasp. The door opened and three figures stepped out. One was tall and gangly. His faced looked like a snakes, with two slits for were the nose was supposed to be and his pupils were slightly oval shaped. Another was a muscular man who towered over the crowd. There were hundreds of tattoos that wrapped themselves around his arms. And finally there was the last one. She was barely three feet. A red smile was painted on her lips that appeared creepy. Her costume was of a little bat and when she moved her arms up and down it looked like she was about to fly.

The huge man with the tattoos stepped forward. "Are you ready to begin? Are you ready to get on? You're about to start out on the journey of your life."

"If you're ready then get in. Once you're in then we'll get gone and who knows once it goes, where you'll be when it arrives." The snake man smirked.

The dwarf flapped her wings. "It's a funhouse where the mirrors all reflect what's real."

"And reality's as twisted as the mirrors reveal. The fun is finding out what the mirrors show." They all sang together. They beckoned to Alexander. He started to walk toward the carriage.

"This is unacceptable!" Raoul shouted in rage blocking Alexander from getting in. "I will take this up with your employer."

Alexander looked up at him angrily. I could see how he was pissed off by the sudden outburst. He looked at Raoul then back at me. I shook my head and mouthed for him to wait. He crossed his arms and began to pout. The dwarf grabbed my sons hand and began to show him the carriage. Alexander was so excited that he was looking around the underneath of the carriage.

"Raoul." I whispered. Raoul began to protest but I touched his arm. He looked down and scowled at me. "It's alright. Let's go. I think it will be fun. I mean have you ever been in a horseless carriage before. It looks like something out of a Science Fiction novel. Stop being such a stick in the mud and let's enjoy."

He wrenched his arm from my grip. He stormed into the carriage like a spoiled brat. I rolled my eyes and followed him. Alexander jumped in before me, almost skipping all the way. Sighing I trailed after him. When I got to the steps the two men helped me into the carriage. "Thank you."

The snake man smiled. I saw every single sharp fang in his mouth. His smile looked like it was a crocodile. Then he said. "The master will be pleased to see you again."

I stared at him bewildered by his answer as he closed the door and we rolled away. I sat there quietly so that I could try to figure out what was going on again. In the Carriage Alexander was constantly looking out the window in awe at 1905 New York, well more like Brooklyn and Coney Island but he was still intrigued. I would have to say that he was more interested now than when we were back in our time. If he wasn't trying to stay in character he would have been squealing in delight.

"Look at the city. Isn't it amazing?" Alexander asked. At every twinkling light he was jumping up and down, shaking the carriage. "Can we go to Phantasma tomorrow?"

"The answer is no! I will not allow a son of mine to play in such a vulgar place." Raoul boomed. "And that is final."

"Raoul." I warned. I turned into mama bear and was giving Raoul the evil eye. Alexander shrank in his seat and leaned against me. I petted his head softly. I gritted my teeth so that I wouldn't say anything unnecessary. _Thank goodness he is not a son of yours then._

Raoul sighed and reached to ruffle Alexander's hair. "I am sorry Gustave. That was uncalled for. You are not to blame for any of this yet I still took my anger out on you. I promise that we will find something fun to do while we are here."

Alexander looked surprised and stared at Raoul in disbelief. I was also caught off guard at the sudden affection that Raoul had shown. I saw a faint smile start to form on Raoul's lips. But then it was gone just as soon as it came. Raoul crossed his arms impatiently. "What a dreadful town this is! Those stupid Americans! Who do they think they are? How dare they ask an unreasonable amount of questions and then mock us on our troubles. They only mean to be make fouls of us all. Did our so-called host think sending freaks would be funny? It was a mistake to come here. Could the fool have thought that our pride was bought by his filthy American money? It is like he slapped us in our face. He means to make a mockery of us to the world. We should head back to France, never mind the debt we owe."

There was no way of answering him without upsetting him even more. It was my turn to sigh and I looked out the window. A diamond moon watched down over the city. The sparkling sky filled the black emptiness of space. But it didn't fill my emptiness because I felt like I was missing some light. I wondered if Erik was looking at the same sky as I was. However I thought that it would be impossible for that to happen. Erik was at least a hundred years away from this sky. There was not a chance that he would be there. So instead I tried to imagine what Erik was doing right then.

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**Disclaimer: I don't own ANY LOVE NEVER DIES. Only my OC's**

**I am so happy that I finished this chapter because I thought that it was going to be too short so I spent two extra day to complete it. Right now I am have so much fun writing Alexander that I can't wait until his main chapters come and I can write his witty dialogue. And see, I would never dare kill Roxanne and Alexander off. I love them far too much for that. Also I wanted to say how excited I am for writing this because one night I thought "Wouldn't it be cool if I could write another story about Roxanne and Erik?" And so this was born.**

** Well I have a question for all of you: Why Coney Island? No, seriously. Why would you think ALW would want to base Love Never Dies on Coney Island? **

**Are you ready to begin? Are you ready to get on? You're about to read out on the journey of your lives. If you're ready then please review, once you're reading then I'll tell all. And who knows once it goes where you'll be when it arrives? It's a fun house where the mirrors all reflect what's real. And the story's as twisted as the mirrors reveal. And the fun is finding out what the mirrors show...  
So again please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_Erik_

The notes followed from the pages of the sheets of music and into the empty air. There had never been a song written in such a way that you could hear the writer's emotion so vividly. He continuously would pause and write in new notes to fix the piece's melody. The melody was pure and unearthly. It wrapped itself around the once lifeless piano as its creator plays on in sorrow. When it appeared to sound like a love song it would turn into a tragedy. Then it would sing a sad anger that howled its loneliness into the dark of the night. It was a cry for help. Even in its lonely sound there was love in every note. It was sweet to the core. There was tenderness in the musician's fingers every time he touched each key that made a hollow ring. The music floated and waltzed around the room. It was so beautiful yet sad at to hear. Sometimes the music would stop for a moment and then pick back up after the composer collected himself.

Then the musician stopped and didn't play on or write on the music. He just sat there like a lifeless automaton that was waiting to be wound up again to play. Without his heart that was all he was; without his music. A few tears hit keys of the piano. He banged his arms on the piano in frustration and held his head.

It had been ten long years since Erik had seen his Angel of Music, his Roxanne. Unbearable ten years for him that each day it tore at his heart. All of his body ached to be beside her. His hands ached to run his fingers through her soft hair. His ears cried out to hear her strange laugh. He craved to hold her in his arms. He needed to hear her sing to him, to talk to him just once more. Imagining her face was not enough to sustain him nor was a faint memory of a time long ago. It would give him life again for he could feel that every moment that they were apart he was suffocating.

She must think that he abandoned them, his family. She must have thought that he was a horrible father to discard his children. His dear sweet little Ange, she was only three when he was taken back in time. Would she still remember him after all these years? He believed that she must have grown too much to remember him and even is she did she never would have forgiven him for leaving her. There were so many important events in Ange's life that he had missed; teaching her to ride a bicycle, watching her first recital, her first day at school. What would Alexander think of his father now? He would have been twenty then. Erik would have missed so many important milestones that only a father could do with his son. They would never be able to share them together. Alexander probably had become bitter at the very mention of his father. He was just like Erik in the way that he would never forgive those who have wronged him. He would never forgive him for leaving them.

But Erik could never fathom ever leaving his family on his own free will. All his life that was the only thing that Erik ever yearned for his entire existent; a wife to love him and children to look at him without any fear. Why would he even dare to give it up? Erik was capable of many cruel things but deserting his family was one that he could not do. He dreamed about them each night when sleep would actually take him. Most nights he would pace his room. Sometimes he couldn't bear to sleep because he was afraid of the images that would appear. Each of their faces would visit him like wandering ghosts where ever he went. It was a battle for him to make it through another lonely day without them. They haunted his mind to the end where he thought that he was going insane. But those faint images were what kept him to try and find a way back to them. If only they knew what had happened to him. Now there as a hole in his heart that couldn't be filled. He desired to see his family again, no matter the cost. If he could he would sell his soul to the devil to just to have one day with them again.

If only Erik hadn't been inspecting his old lair and through the catacombs on the last day before he would have left for New York. He felt the strange urge to visit them again. They were once part of his world so many years ago that it felt wrong to not take a look at them before leaving. While he was inspecting he came across a passageway that he had never seen before. That puzzled him for he had known every passage, every door, and every stone in that underground. It was impossible. At the end of the hall there was a door. It was strange contrast of the mahogany wood against the grey bricks. He had walked down this rabbit hole but he fell hard down to wonderland. He was now in Hell again.

Weeks had passed then months passed. Seasons would fly. But he would still not walk through their door. And in a haze he'd count the silent days until maybe she would come for him. Soon years came, years went by and then the time runs dry. Still he ached down to his core for his broken soul couldn't be alive and whole until he saw her again or hear her sing once more.

"And music, your music, it teases at my ear. I turn and it fades away and you're not here." Erik sang quietly to himself remembering a song that he once heard from a sequel to a musical that was based off of his life. "Let hopes pass. Let dreams pass. Let them die. Without you, what are they for? I'll always feel No more than halfway real. 'Til I hear you sing once more"

"Sir?" A voice asked.

Erik turned to find a young woman in a place blue dress standing in the door way. She was holding a stack of music sheets. He smiled and stood up from his bench. "Hello Meg."

"How are you sir?"

Erik rolled his eyes. "Didn't I tell you to call me Erik?"

"Many times." She confessed.

"So please call me by my name. I need someone that calls me by my name and I want it to be you."

"But since you are my boss I thought it would be more appropriate to call you 'sir'."

"I could never see you as an employee. You will always be a daughter to me in my eyes, my beautiful ballerina." He told Meg kindly. She grinned and ran up to hug him. He returned the hug. With a smile when they broke apart he said to her. "I am doing alright."

"You look tired." Meg pointed out.

"I am. I just have a lot on my mind." After Marco had found him, he and Meg helped Erik escape Paris and smuggle him into America. All the time he had been working hard to make a new life in Coney Island, creating a sanctuary for the deformed and unusual, he never stopped trying to find a way back. Not a day went by without Erik searching for answers in books and inventing strange machines to help or solve the puzzle of time travel. But with every second that ticked by he was nowhere closer to finding an answer than ten years ago.

She nodded. "I see. Should I come back later?"

"No. it is alright." Erik reassured. He turned around on the bench and placed his hands on his knees. "Now tell me why came here."

"Did you watch?" Meg grew excited. She twirled in excitement. "Tell me what you saw? Did you hear the crowd and how they cheered? I really hope you're proud."

"I am." He sat back down and sighed. Then he went back to work on his own melody.

"Did you like the new routine? Well, was it passable, I mean. I can change a thing or two, what should I do?" She asked only wave her hands full of sheet music in the air. She searched each page desperately. "No, don't say it - I can guess. Maybe I should change the tempo in bar five to make it seem more alive. I could always change the half note in bar twenty to a quarter note so Charlotte will have enough time to breathe. But I promise I'll progress. Please tell me if that sounds fine."

"Whatever you think is for the best, you are the composer."

"Did charlotte's costume seem right to you? Maybe it's the color, I think it might be all wrong but everyone seemed to love it. I don't know if I should have it reveal more or less, yet people liked the view."

"Meg." Erik warned. He turned around and gave her a look to try to get her to stop. But she didn't seem to hear it in the least.

"I could have her show a bit more skin that will surely bring more men in."

"Meg!" Erik stood up.

Meg gave a weak smile. Looking down at her music she put it on the small table that stood beside her. "It is Christine, isn't it?"

_No, I miss Roxanne not Christine. But I can't tell Meg that because she only knows her as Christine. _Erik thought.

She knew that was all he was ever going to think about. Meg might be like a daughter to him, his little ballerina but no matter what she did, it would never compare to Christine. What Meg didn't understand was how Erik could still love Christine after she left him to die and then act coldly to Marco and Meg. Christine had become a sister to her but then Christine became distant. It was like she turned into another person. Meg was astonished about how weak Erik was for not moving on and not forget about her. He instead was waiting for her like a loveless puppy.

"Why can't you forget her? You need to let go and really make a new life for yourself."

"No."

"When the mob came it was Marco who protected your lair, not her. It was Marco and I who kept you safe. We were there! Where was she, when the lawmen hounded you? Gone, long gone, nowhere to be found. It was Marco and I who stayed faithful to you to the bitter end. We stayed on! Who concealed you safe away, smuggled you up to Calais? Found a freighter out of France—."

"I don't see the problem, it's all ancient history." Erik mumbled. His blood began to boil. He clenched his hand. "You are too young to talk with grief."

"We were there when the sideshow hired you." Meg said ignoring Erik's plea. "Who stood by while they kept you on display, we were the ones who kept working night and day. We gave you our very lives and safety to keep you from harm."

"Let's us forget about those times."

"But she left you!"

Another wave of anger washed over Erik again. "Stop please..."

"Christine didn't pick you. She chose Raoul, chose his beauty and youth! It's long past time you faced up to - !"

"Meg…"

"Why can't you recognize it?! She is never going to come back, you know that?"

"Enough!"Erik slammed his hands on the piano and stood up with his head hanging. He turned his head to glare at the young woman. A flash of intense anger flared up in his expression. She stopped, paralyzed in fear. So she only nodded and sank back into the shadow of the room. He turned his head and returned to his music. "Remember not to forget yourself."

Meg couldn't figure out if he was talking to her or himself. "Just remember when Marco had to go back Paris to fix all of **your** problems I was the one who helped you. I didn't sleep until your dream came alive. It was me that helped you persuade investors."

The memory of the 'persuasions' were very vivid. It was rather exciting. Meg would lure the investors into the room where they were trapped in a room of mirrors and illusions. Erik tortured them for hours until he gave them two options, either they invest in his idea or they would die. Surprisingly they would invest in it. That was the one perk that Erik got from coming back to his Hell; it was the only place where he could get rid of people who annoyed him without any repercussions.

Back where his family was Erik was unable to kill annoying people. He had to grin and bear it until late at night when he would a place to work on his skills. To not be able to kill whenever you wanted was cruel. Killing was like second nature to Erik. Without it he would have a small hole inside him which sometimes he wanted to forget because it made him more like a monster.

"Yes, I do remember."A smile crept onto Erik's lips. "It was all your help that you created this but you must remember when you have crossed the line on insulting what I love most in the world."

Meg looked down in defeat. Erik sighed. "I promise that when this all ends you and Marco will be happy."

She smiled. Erik sighed and looked off to the distance. There were no stars in the sky to comfort the moon. Erik felt strangely connected to the moon because he was also alone in the universe without his star. **Oh Roxanne, My Roxanne I was taken without warning. But soon I'll have you back by my side, my sweet Roxanne! I will return to you. And come what may, I swear somehow, someway, I will hear you sing once more! **

Then there was a knock that came from the door. A bearded lady walked into the room. "Sir?"

"What do you want?" Erik asked, irritated at the intrusion.

"Christine Daaé has arrived."

Erik dashed passed Meg to the bearded lady. "Yes."

"She has just departed from the ship and is heading to the hotel. But something happened on the docks."

"What happened?" Meg inquired.

The employee cleared her throat. "She dove into the water to save her son."

Erik's eyes grew wide. "A boy?"

"Yes sir."

"Was there a small girl?" he asked.

"No sir."

"Christine has a child?" Meg questioned.

"About ten years old with dark hair and eyes," The bearded lady paused. "Well from what I have heard."

Erik grabbed his cloak. "I have to go. I should introduce our guests." He announced and ran out of the room as fast as he could. Erik grabbed his heart. It was beating faster by the minute. His hands were sweating and his knees were shaking that he could barely stand. It was like a dream. **My family is here. No, it can't be. But maybe? **There was a small amount of hope that pulled him toward her room. He thought that all was lost but it wasn't. After so long he could finally see her again or at least a mirror image of her. But that was alright. His only desire then was to be able to see her even if it were a brief instant. He would hear his Angel of Music sing once more.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Love Never Dies.**

**Oh readers! My readers! Yes you have read my story once before, but readers, what we shared even you can't ignore, my reader! I'll be no longer denied! I'll have you back by my side, My sweet readers!** **And come what may, I swear somehow, someway, I will read your reviews once more!**

**Hey everyone. I am so happy that I finished this chapter. I swear through most of it I was so sleepy that it sounded distant in my head and that is how I wanted it. So now a question for you has been answered so there :P No I'm kidding. I hope this gets those wheels turning in your head. I want to say this before I go, Alexander is my favorite Character in this book and I will show you why in the coming up Chapters. **

**I do however have to inform you that this will be a little shorter than the original but hopefully it will be just as good *COUGH* not like Phantom of Manhattan *COUGH*... sorry I have a cold ;) But please review, favorite and follow this story.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Mother, look at what they gave to me. Wind the top and it plays a melody." Alexander called. I turned my attention to him. I sat in one of the chairs playing with a ribbon from my dress's sleeve and watched my son enjoy himself. He wound the top and it started to play. There was a mahogany desk where a music box sat and played. It was rather small with few carvings of a silver rose with a crescent moon. Alexander stood by the toy and watched it as if he were in a trance. A ballerina that wore a scarlet dress twirled to the music. She danced and danced happily for my son. Her painted face was drawn up in a smile but her eyes were cold and soulless. The bright blue seemed dimmed and sad which mirrored the song she danced to. They stared off into space without any purpose or reason. The song that was being played sounded like a lullaby that would be sung to a small child to fall asleep. It was sweet tune which was hypnotic to listen to.

Raoul was pacing the floor of the suite in an angry fashion. He shook his head in frustration. "Stop playing that infernal racket."

Alexander paid no mind to Raoul's orders. He was completely oblivious when it came to music. Instead he continued to listen to the music. All he was conscious to was his music that gave him as much life like air. After it had played multiple times Alexander began to hum with it. Each note began to engrave itself into my memory until I started to hum to it as well. We began to sing together harmoniously. I hadn't sung to such a beautiful song in a while. Our singing only made Raoul angrier. He gave me a glare to silence me.

He squeezed my son's shoulder to get his attention. "Ow!"

"Raoul." I warned. I stood up and walked to Raoul, poised to defend my son. The boy turned his head and saw the look on his face. Raoul spun around to see me glare at him disapprovingly. Alexander turned off the music box and shot a look behind Raoul's back and stuck his tongue out. I frowned to try to not to laugh. Seeing my anger Raoul sat down in the other arm chair and put his head into his hands.

I walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Raoul."

"I need a drink!" Raoul announced. He shook my hand off him and walked away. He stormed to the counter grumbling to himself.

"Tell me what is wrong."

He grabbed the bottle of alcohol and poured himself another drink. When no liquid came out he slammed the bottle onto the counter in frustration. "Damn!"

I flinched. "Raoul when did you become this angry? You were once my one companion. You were all that matter. What happened? Is there any way that I could ease your burden?"

"Ease my burden? I was all that mattered? Ha! Don't mock me. It's bad enough that I have lost my pride."

"Raoul please tell me."

"Tell you? How could I count the many ways that you drove me to be like this. I jumped through hoops to make you the happiest wife alive! I showered you with attention and gifts. I spent at least half time tending to your every need. I remembered every birthday, anniversary and Valentine but it wasn't enough!" Raoul yelled in frustration. "You were always sad. It wasn't until very recently you decided to act like a mother to him. But at least I never forgot about my own son. There were some nights when he was a toddler where he had nightmares about a man in a mask and you would run away saying it was all nonsense. Did you ever dry his tears when he was small? No! All you did was sulk in the corner until you could no longer cry. I made sure that he had a friend to play with or a parent who looked after him. You would neglect Gustave when he was a baby; as a baby… What kind of Mother would do that? Sometimes you would cry just looking at him. I know what you would say if you could. You would say that you regretted your decision all those years back. It was painful for me to believe that you made the wrong choice. So I went on a trip to ease my sorrows."

He sighed brushing his hair from his eyes. I stood there paralyzed at what Christine had done for the past. My boy, my sweet caring boy, in whom I had never realized until then could be so kind and understanding to a stranger stepped up from behind him and placed a hand on Raoul's back. When He turned to look at my son I saw tears start to form in his eyes. He embraced him for a moment and then placed his hands on Alexander's slender shoulders. "I know lately I have not been a good father and it is not fair to you, Gustave. But I promise when all the debts are paid our family will be stronger. Your mother and I will both do what is in our power to make sure that you will have a good and happy life. So wait just a little longer for me to play games with you."

There was a hard knock at the door. We all looked at it as if it were a door to hell. I walked over to open the door. Peeking out for a second I opened it all the way to reveal our visitor. It was a bell hop stood in the door way. He peered inside and spotted Raoul. "Vicomte de Changy?"

"Yes?" he asked cautiously. I stepped out of the way so that Raoul could take my place at the door.

Pulling a note out of his breast pocket he handed it to him. "Mr. Y would like to discuss business with you in the bar down stairs. He said that you are not to open the letter until you have reached there."

Raoul looked at me and I nodded to him that it was alright for him to go. He gestured for the bell hop to lead the way. With a bow of bell hop's hat, the two were off to the bar below. I closed the door after them slowly.

"It's getting late. It might be a good idea for you head to bed." I stated as I sat down in one of the chairs.

"I have danced as best as I could for the world's amusement but now I am tired. Now tell me what is going on." Alexander told me. His arms were crossed "Where are we?"

"Coney island, I believe."

"But where?"

"New York."

"I got that part."

"Then you know exactly where we are."

Tapping his foot he flashed me a look that a parent usually gave to their child when they did something wrong was plastered on his face. It felt weird to be on the other end of that stare again. "What year are we in?"

"1905." I confessed.

It sounds like something in Dad's books."

"You snuck into your Father's office?" Now it was my turn to flash him the parent glare.

He let out a small cough. "That is completely irrelevant right now."

"You know that your Father doesn't want you anywhere near them, filling your head with nonsense."

"You read Wizard of Oz and Alice in Wonderland to Ange and she's three."

"Touché."

"Please can we forget that I said anything about it?"

"For now but when your Father gets wind of this you won't be leaving your room until you're twenty. You've been warned."

"Point taken but going back to business, we did a Doctor Who thing and magically we were transported to 1905 New York?" He shook his head. "No… The Doctor had a Tardis and we fell into an icy bath. There must have been a worm hole at the bottom and we were sucked through it."

I nodded. My thumbs started to play with each other as my lip hand found its way between my teeth.

"They think that we are that man's wife and child. So we have to act like them until we find a way back to our time. "

"That is not the worst of it." I whispered to myself.

"What did you say?"

Looking up at him I smiled. "Nothing you need to worry about. I'll tell you in the morning."

"No. we have to figure it out as soon as possible."

"Alexander. Bed, now."

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." I agreed. Alexander nodded. He kissed me on the cheek and he hugged me. A smile formed on my lips. "It will be alright."

"I know. I wonder what Dad would do if he knew he were here." He said.

I looked at Alexander. Most people say when they first see my son they comment on how handsome he was and how he took after his father. There was his dark brown hair that was so close to black that it looked like a raven's wings. His hair seemed to always be in a mess and wouldn't stay still no matter how I tried to fix it. It looked good on him though so I wasn't bothered by it always. He was lean and tall for his age. In his class he was one of the tallest of his class. Unlike most of the boys in his class he was more mature and always kept his composure in difficult situation. He had fingers that were made to play piano. His face looked like a younger version of Erik's. He had high cheek bones and a perfectly slender nose. But his eyes came from me. They were the exact color and shape as mine were. Just like his father music was his life. He was so much like Erik that it was scary at times.

"He would go to the end of the world to find us." I reassured. He walked into the other room to go to sleep. The door shut quietly behind him.

The room was extremely dimly lit and the silence echoed through me. Looking out the window to the balcony I sighed. The night was so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes. The crescent moon shined down through the massive window. I smiled at the beauty that the stars held in the sky. But it was no match for the lights in the sky. In your multitudes were scarce to be counted that filled the darkness with order and light they are the sentinels. They were so silent and sure that when they kept watch in the night on the sleeping city they looked like angels.

The darkness that surrounded them was as black as loneliness. Just like its opposites it held beauty in itself. It was soulless. It was silence.

I winded the music box so that the silence could be filled. The music started to play and the ballerina began to twirl. I adored the sound that filled me from my toes. As I watched her spin around over and over again on her tip toes. There was a black mask that lay by her feet. I grazed my fingers over it. Looking back up at the girl I was noticing things that I had over looked. There was something familiar about the ballerina. I remembered that her dress looked very similar to the dress that I wore one night a long time ago. It was the night that Erik and I were reunited. Every feature on the porcelain figure mirrored my own face. I backed away from the table with my hand over my mouth. Actually she looked exactly like I did that night. Her hair cascaded down her back in golden locks and her blue green eyes were striking against her pale skin.

The glass doors of the balcony slammed opened by a gust of wind. I felt a hand wrap around me. Every fiber in me screamed in fear as I felt his breath on my bare neck. Cursing under my breath I was paralyzed. I heard his voice whisper in my ear "Honey, I'm home."

I recognized that greeting. Erik would greet me like that whenever he came back from a concert. I turned around to find him smiling back to me. His cocky smile gleamed in the dimly lit room. I could barely see the rest of his face but his eyes seemed to glow the unnatural color that I hadn't seen since he was the Phantom. I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Erik."

"Roxanne." He embraced. He left a trail of kisses down my neck. I felt a shiver run down my spine. Then He began to kiss my cheeks and eyelids softly. It was like he was reassuring that I was there. I saw a glisten of tears that ran down his face when we had separated. He tilted my chin up and pressed his lips to mine. My body melted into his and I felt the strong muscles in his arm hold me in a firm embrace. I felt his hands run up from my back and into my hair. They ran through my hair as he deepened the kiss. I let out a quiet moan. Electricity zapped through my body. I tasted his passion in him as he deepened the kiss. I closed my eyes and was about to run a hand through his hair but he caught it before I came close. He nipped at my lower lip to distract me. Our bodies pressed together so tightly that it hurt. My strength seemed to degenerate as he kissed me in that way.

We separated, both out of breath. I could see his smile faintly. "Please sing to me. I need to hear your voice again."

I nodded and sang Margarita's the Jewel Song that I had sung back at the Opera house quietly to him. It was just as sweet as I last remembered it. When I finished I was out of breath. I desperately held on to his arms for support before I could fall. He continued to hold me close to him. "I've missed you. I promise never to leave you for so long."

"How did you know it was me and not Christine?" I asked.

I felt his hands stroke my hair lovingly. He laughed. "Christine wouldn't curse like an old sailor."

"Oh."

"Tell me how is Ange."

"Well," I started. "Ange has missed you so much. She asks for you all the time. Remember those nightmares that she used to have? She has had them every night since you left."

"And Alexander?" Erik asked me.

"He isn't too thrilled but he is getting over it."

Erik released me and walked over to the table. He put a hand over his mouth. "He's here then, with you?"

"Of course." I said. "We came together like you told us to."

"That was so long ago though."

"I don't understand what you are getting at Erik. It hasn't been that long of time since you left."

"Maybe it hasn't felt like a long time but for the children they have grown up without a Father."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Haven't I missed Ange's first day at school or Alexander's graduation?"

"Um, Ange still has another couple years until she is allowed to start Kindergarten and Alexander still hasn't even graduated elementary."

"What year is it back home?"

"It is the same one that you left for your Paris trip."

He placed his hands on the table for support. "That can't be so."

"How is that?" I asked touching his face with the back of my left hand. His face felt as cold as a winter wind.

"I have been gone for ten years."

He grabbed my hand and guided it to his right half of his face. I felt something that wasn't his face. My hand grabbed it and pulled it off his face. I gasped at what I saw in the moonlight. I caressed his disfigured cheek and felt a tear touch my finger tips. "Erik…"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies.**

**Yay I finished! I love finishing a chapter. I hope everyone liked it and please keep reading. Did you notice the 2 refrences to Les Mis from this chapter? If so here is some fake extra fan points. I have them somewhere *looks through pockets and finds nothing* ... Well this is awkward... Moving on, right now you are either confused or you know what is going on. So let's see whiich category you fall into and if you are still confused next chapter will clear everything up. I hope you have had fun reading.**

**Once there was a night beneath a moonless sky. Too dark to write a thing, too tired to even try. I wrote for your pleasure of reading of Roxanne and Erik. I can never see your face but I can sense you even so. So please review for my sake.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Erik walked outside to the balcony and placed both hands on the railing. "I don't understand how it has been ten years yet back home it has only been a couple days. It makes no sense."

"I don't understand it either." I told him while following his lead.

"I looked through thousands of books and preformed hundreds of experiments on time travel but I found nothing."

"Maybe this is like Narnia." I offered.

"Narnia?"

"Yeah, you know; _The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe_. We read it to Alexander when he was small before bed." I reminded. He looked at me still puzzled. I could tell that he couldn't remember it. "In the story the children travel through a wardrobe to another world called Narnia. After the children defeat the witch to save Narnia they stay there for many years until they traveled back home. They had been gone for ten to twenty years but no time had seemed to have passed."

"And you think that is what happened?" Erik looked at me skeptically.

"It is the only other possibility that we haven't looked at."

He leaned back on the rail and crossed his arms. "I see."

"I know it is a difficult pill to swallow but…" I reasoned.

"You have no idea what it has been like for me." He cut me off. Turning back to the railing he set his hands on it for support. He slicked back his hair with a sigh. I watched him as he looked down at the mask then up at the sky. "Every day I thought about you and hoped that you would come here. I thought that after ten years that you would have moved on and that broke my heart. But hearing that it had only been a couple days is a relief. No, it is more complicated than that. I am aggravated at the fact that I have been here separated from my family, thinking that they believed were abandoned and I was tortured with that idea only to find out that I was gone for a few days. I am more than upset but I am relieved to have you here again. Yet when I am thankful you are here I am afraid that you will just vanish before my very eyes. I couldn't live with myself if I ever lost you forever."

He laughed to himself sadly. Then his attention turned to me. He looked like he was memorizing every inch of my body as if I was going to disappear any second. I realized that I was doing the same with him. I couldn't take my eyes off him. He didn't look ugly to me anymore instead he looked like the man that I had fallen in love with. It pained me to see that pained look on his face. I placed my hand over to let him know that I wasn't going to disappear. Taking a breath he continued. "When I came back here I didn't understand what had happened. I was being smuggled out of Paris and on to a boat to New York. It wasn't until I was on the ship that I found a shard of a mirror and saw what I had become again. I was devastated. When we arrived I had to do side jobs for years before creating this. Until I had enough money I would work from dawn till dusk. No, I didn't put myself in a freak show. Instead I wrote music and sold it to performers to use under my alias. When I earned the money I created Phantasma as a haven for… people like me. If I couldn't give them a job here I would help them find a life somewhere else. There was a small girl who was a little different with a father who couldn't find work because of how his daughter looked. I gave him money to start a new life and now I am a co-owner of a hotel in New York, this exact hotel. I believe that back in our time it is the same hotel that I had booked for us. But I would give up this empire to have been with you."

He took his hand from undermine away and looked away from me as if to shield me from himself. I rested a hand on his cheek and turned his head to face me. I felt the pit of my stomach drop to the ground when I saw the look of hurt in his eyes. His face was twisted into the color of rotten paper. Just like paper his skin was thin and almost translucent. The upper lip was burnt lines of flesh which was drawn up by thin skin to show his teeth. It was unnatural as it wrapped half of his face like a skeleton. And his nose, on the right side there was no nose at all. There was no eyebrow but what looked like burned skin. His eye seemed to be sunken into his skull giving the ghostly appearance. What was so horrible was how it looked when you saw his whole face. Erik's face was symmetrically disfigured as it was before. I didn't understand why his face had become distorted again and I couldn't imagine the pain he was going through then.

Ten years he was like this, ten years in this time. He must have felt dark and lonely. It was heartbreaking to see him in so much pain; though his face was not physically hurting him it was still taking a toll on his mental and emotional health. I could never relate to how he was feeling because I have never been in the position he was in. He had to hide himself away from human contact because of a deformity. It made him socially isolated and vulnerable. With how he looked then he would never have a chance at a normal life. There was no opportunity for him to start a family or get a job in that day and age with how he looked. I knew that he wanted to be like an ordinary man, who can walk around in the streets without fear or perform his music in front of audiences. The Erik that I loved deserved that life instead of the one that he had been living in.

I caressed his deformed cheek. "Erik."

"Please, don't." Erik begged resting his hand over mine. He guided my hand away from his face and back to my side. I felt confused and reached out for him. Erik took a step back away from me like I had the bubonic plaque.

"How?"

"I don't know. Maybe part of me stayed while I went to live my life. So when I came back I was rejoined and became like this."

"Did you um…" I started to ask. He looked at me and waited for me to complete my question. My face grew crimson red in embarrassment as my heart beat race. I felt my ears burn. Gathering up my courage I squeaked "With Christine?"

"No! I swear on my life I came after that." Erik defended.

I felt relieved for a moment but then my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. "But if your other theory was right then the part that stayed still loves Christine and Gustave is also your child. You never really got over her, you just lost her and I'm the constellation prize for your efforts then. Part of you still loves her."

He stayed silent for a moment. He looked at the mask for a while as he pondered about his feelings. I saw his eyes turn cold when he put the mask back on his face. He stood there silently and looked toward the stars as if to ask them for guidance. I didn't dare interrupt him because I felt my heart tear as each second past. I was to focus on what was going on in my own mind that the rest of the world seemed to have melted away. The idea that Erik still loved Christine deprived me of all my courage and strength. And the thought of him embracing her disgusted me. I wanted him to hold only me and promise never to think of that brat again.

**This must be what Erik felt when I was in Raoul's arms.** I thought bitterly. The idea that I was jealous burned a whole in my stomach.

Clouds started to cover the stars and it became so dark and cold. A wind flowed around us and I shivered so I wrapped my arms around myself but I was still cold. I felt something being draped across my shoulders and I looked up and saw Erik putting his black evening coat around me. "I loved her, yes I **loved** her. We both knew that. And yet I won't regret from now until I die a night I can't forget. It was beneath a moonless sky when I fell in love with you. I love you. Presently, here and now. My feelings for her are in the past and that must have been all that there was in that duplicate of mine; past feelings and memories of Christine. But my love for you is real and present. It will be for past, present and future always. You were the one who brought me from the hell I was living. With you it is so different now than what it had been. You have become my dream and life. I need you to give me life and air to breathe."

"I love you too." I cried.

"As you wish." Erik bowed gracefully to me that made me giggle in delight.

He wrapped his arms around me and I felt a tear fall from my face and on to his hands. I thought that his touch would feel cold like it had before but it felt warm instead. He kissed my head and sighed. "I don't know how we are going to get out of this."

"I don't know." I confessed. "Maybe wait it out until it has come to an end like before."

"What happens in the end in the sequel again? It has been so long that I have forgotten all about it."

"Oh, in the end Gustave is reunited with the Phantom and Christine d…." I touched my throat and I felt all my blood from my face drain. My legs lost their power to keep me standing up so held on to Erik as if my life depended on it.

I felt Erik's grip tighten as he realized what I was about to say. "That is not going to happen. Not on my life."

"Well maybe on mine." I weakly laughed.

Erik released me and turned me around. He lowered his arms to hold my hands. "How can you say that?"

"I'm sorry it's my coping mechanism. I'm scared for my life."

"I am too but you don't see me killing people right now."

"Point taken." I said with a shaky voice. Then I thought for a moment and yanked my hands out of his. "Killing is how you cope with things now? I thought that was all behind you."

"It's been ten years for me living like this. Don't you think a few bad habits will sneak in through the years?" He questioned me.

"I would have expected that you had a little more restraint."

"Can we discuss this later? I believe there is a more pressing matter on the table than what I do in my free time."

"Yes." I agreed. "Later… Now we have to figure out how to make the ending different so that we can go home and I don't die…"

"Meg doesn't perform." his face lit up hopefully. He shook his head while smiling triumphantly like he bested death. "She writes music for the show so you can't bump her out of the lime light if you sing a song that Meg and I have written. Meg is bitter about Christine but she was never bitter toward you so she will definitely be warmer when you perform."

"I believe that it was Mr. Hammerstein who has asked me to perform at the Metropolitan Opera. It would be rude if I don't perform there."

"Don't worry I will convince him to let you go and sing at Phantasma instead. I'm sure he won't mind to wait in line. After all you are my wife so he will be a little more willing."

"But here I am Raoul's wife not yours."

Erik's jaw tightened. His eyes grew dark and cold like the sky above. "That is true for him and Christine but for him and you it is not. You are **my** wife and Alexander is** my** son. That stinking drunk of a fool doesn't deserve the both of you. I will not stand around and watch him toy with you and Alexander."

"Well we can't do anything about it. In this Era it is death do us part, remember?" I asked.

"Death might come sooner than you think."

"Don't you dare think that for one moment that I would let you kill him?"

"I wasn't planning on you to let me, only to look the other way." He mumbled under his breath.

"Whatever you are thinking, don't." I ordered him. "I would rather not have blood on your hands the first day that I am here."

"Don't worry Mon Cherie, my hands are already soaked in enough blood as it is so a little more wont tarnish them even more."

"Erik." I warned. I glared at him.

"Mom!" Alexander's voice cried. I turned to find my little boy quaking fear in the door way. He raced towards me with tears in his eyes. My little boy never cries and when he did he never showed anyone. I caught me off guard to see him in this state. He wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his head in my stomach.

I looked at Erik for help but he turned his back to us slightly ashamed to show himself to his own son. Kneeling down I held him close and petted his head. "What is it chéri?"

"There was someone strange and mad who was seizing me and drowning me. I couldn't escape. I tried to swim but I couldn't. " He trembled.

I sighed and stroked his cheek. With a kiss on the forehead I told him "It is alright. It was only a nightmare. It wasn't real so there is nothing to fear."

He nodded and looked behind him. When he saw Erik he positioned himself between me and Erik. "Who is are you?"

"Alexander, this is Mr. Y." I stood up and placed my hands on Alexander's shoulders.

"He's Mr. Y?" Alexander asked. "The man that sent the carriage."

"The very same." I confirmed.

"I am better known as the Phantom." Erik greeted with a small bow. "Welcome to my world young Master."

"The Phantom of the Opera?!" Alexander squeaked. He turned to me with wide eyes. "He's killed people before hasn't he? Can we trust him?"

I nodded. "I have known him for a long time. He is a dear friend of mine. I met him long ago when I was young. He knows who we are and where we come from. We can trust him. He would never let our secret out."

"I swear on my life that I will protect you and your mother from anything that will harm you." Erik swore putting his hand over his heart.

Alexander stared at him for some time until he nodded and stepped toward Erik. "So this place is yours?"

"Every inch of it. Tell me where you'd like to go, tell me what you want to see. I can grant any wish." He told him as he offered a hand. Alexander took it and grew extremely excited.

"Could you show me all the islands mysteries; all that's strange and wild and dark, in the shadows of the park?"

"I will show it all to you myself."

"Yes, but that will all have to wait for tomorrow." I told the two of them. Erik nodded and released Alexander's hand. Our sleepy ten year old boy walked back inside with Erik and me following close behind. I lit one of the candelabras to let in a little more light.

"Back to sleep now, Alexander" I kissed his forehead tonight. "Good night chéri."

He bid me a good night as well and went to his room. Alexander paused in the doorway to his room. He looked up at Erik and smiled. "Goodnight Monsieur Phantom."

Then he scurried back into his room and quickly shut the door behind him. I looked around and found Erik standing by the Piano. He ran his fingers over the white key so slowly that time had stopped around him. "It's weird, I dreamed of having my whole family together again but I never would believe that it would come true."

"Not everyone is here you know." I told him. "You are forgetting little Ange."

"I'm glad that she didn't come back with you. This is no place for a young lady."

"And what does that make me then, an old hag?" I glared at him with my arms crossed.

"Are you jealous of you own Daughter?" Erik teased. A mischievous smile had taken residence on his face. He chuckled and kissed me softly. "That makes you my Queen, my world."

I closed my eyes and he placed his hands in mine. There was energy that followed from his finger tips to mine that gave me a new found strength that I have never known. I felt like I could conquer the world at that moment with him there beside me. "We'll survive this won't we?"

He nodded and tightened his grip on my hand. "I must go but for me to leave your side for one more moment feels like I will be dying over and over again until I am by your side again. I wish to steal you away and lock you up for safe keeping."

"What like a hostage?" I teased. His smile grew bigger.

"No, like a diamond."

"Ha." I took my left hand from his and placed it on the side of his face. I kissed his cheek. "I love you."

"We will meet again soon."

"Promise?"

He laughed and kissed my hand. "I promise."

Then the curtain wrapped around us and he escaped from my grasp. I stood alone by the doorway to the balcony. I was left in the quiet night air alone. A hole was left in me while I was left in the cold. The curtain moved slightly back and forth in the icy wind that blew into the room and made the candle's fire waver. Walking over I closed the doors with a soft click and a slight smile. The clouds parted and the moon came out again. I saw clearly now that I was not the same naïve girl that fell through the trapdoor. Something in me had changed into someone stronger. I was no longer scared of the ending because I had someone to protect me from fate.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies.  
I had alot of fun writing this chapter because I feel there are so many emotions that were conveyed in this one chapter that I actually had to play it out so that it would sound and look like it did in my head. I had to watch the 3 songs that were in this chapter multiple times that I can recite the songs from memory. But I am happy that I was able to finish before next week.**

**You (In your dream): Roxanne, please, I'm scared. What a wait, an awful wait. Someone strange and mad begging me and pestering me... for reviews for your story**

**Roxanne (In you imagination): Shh, Reader, it's alright... Come and meet a friend of mine**

**Me: Welcome to my world, my friend.**

**Roxanne: this is JMsoccer35**

**Please review :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The light of the rising sun shone through tinting every crevasse in a pinkish glow. The suite had been quiet and peaceful until Raoul stumbled in, drunk, in the middle of the night. When he sobered up he had trouble remembering what had happened the night before. But I hadn't. My mind flashed to the memory that I had last night being reunited with Erik. That night Erik made me feel alive and young again like when we first had met. The way he had embraced me like he was holding me like I was going to escape made my heart start to flutter. His kiss was so passionate that I wanted to melt in his arms. There was no way of describing how I felt that night. I felt my cheeks start to burn and I giggled like a little girl. Raoul eyed me suspiciously and I suppressed my smile by covering it with my hands.

"How was the meeting last night dear?" I inquired sweetly. I batted my eyes and rubbed my hand on his shoulder.

He sighed obviously flustered. "I was stood up. I waited for an hour and a half but no one showed up."

"I'm sure they had pressing matters." I reasoned.

"And when I get back to the room I get a message saying that Mr. Y wants to pay double of what Mr. Hammerstein is paying for one performance. It is insulting that he would do such a thing. How dare he make a fool of me?"

"I don't believe he is making a fool of you."

"Of course he was." Raoul argued. "It is bad enough as it is to have someone think that you can be bought so easily."

I shook my head at his stubbornness. "Please see to reason."

"Reason, ha! There is only one truth and one alone Mr. Y has no integrity what so ever. Yet he reminds me of someone."

"Yes, who could that ever be?" I grumbled to myself that was barely audible to other living forms.

"Mother." Alexander whispered as he pulled my sleeve.

I knelt down so that I was able to hear him better. "What is wrong, Chéri?"

He wrung his hands and looked down at the ground nervously then back up to into my eyes. When he saw that I was looking at him he stood a tad bit straighter. "Will Mr. Y really take me to see Phantasma?"

"Of course, he will."

"How do you know?"

"He is a man of his word."

"He seems familiar."

With a smile I nodded in agreement. **More than you can imagine.**

Alexander announced a little louder than attended. "I like Mr. Y."

"Well I don't." Raoul proclaimed after hearing Alexander broadcast his feelings to the rest of the world." "No one has ever heard of him or seen him. He is a Nobody. Then out of the blue that I all I have been hearing about for the past twenty-four hours; Mr. Y."

There was a quiet knock on the door. With a gently push on the door a bellboy entered taking a small bow after noticing us. "Excuse me, Mr. Y would like for you to come with me, if you will."

Raoul sighed angrily taking another sip of whisky. "And where does your employer want us to follow you to?"

"Um… I believe to the theatre?"

"Grab your coat Gustave." I instructed while grabbing my coat as well.

"And where do you think you're going?" Raoul demanded as he caught my arm.

"Doing what the nice young man said. Come on Gustave."

"You are not going anywhere."

"Look," I pointed my finger at him. "I'm the one that is going to perform so I believe that I have a right to see the theatre that I will be performing in. I don't need a drunken, sexist, twat telling me what to do. Last time I checked it was my life and not yours. Get out of my way before this becomes a full-fledged war. You aren't going to survive, I can guarantee you that. If you have any objections what so ever, you will be wishing you were in Hell."

The three males looked at me with their jaws hanging to their feet. I rolled my eyes. Before any of them could object I grabbed Alexander's hand and stormed out of the door. Behind us I could hear Raoul and the bellboy scurry behind us to catch up.

"Mom, are you alright?" Alexander wheezed.

"Peachy." I snarled through my teeth.

"Why are we walking so fast?"

We stopped in the lobby suddenly. One reason being that I had no idea where I was heading and secondly it was because of the question he just had asked. I turned my head to glare at my son. "When you are older you will learn; women don't like it when you degrade them."

"Yes ma'am."

….

"5, 6, a-5, 6, 7, 8." Someone instructed.

I looked around at the marvelous stage that I was walking on. There were high cat walks that seemed to be at the perfect height for someone to be perched up there and watch the show below. There were big curtains that lined the proscenium of the stage in red velvet that flowed from the rafters almost hitting the ground. It was so spectacular that words would do very little justice for every beautiful detail engraved into the crevasses in each corner of the theatre. Hanging a above the house a enormous crystal chandelier that sparkled.

"Bathing beauty, on the beach. Bathing beauty, say hello. What a cutie, what a peach. Bathing beauty, watch her go." Chorus girls sang around this one woman who had long wavy hair that stopped at the lower part of her back. She was such a beauty that she seem out of place.

"Alright, Charlotte, take 5, girls, take it one more time"

"Ugh." The lady, who must have been Charlotte, walked to the dressing rooms to get water while all of the other girls had to stay there and perform their song repeatedly. "Bathing beauty, on the beach."

I smiled and walked around while Alexander followed close behind. My attention was caught be a tall slender young lady with dark brown hair. I wondered where I had seen her before because she was extremely familiar. Her innocent face held an edge to it which made her seem more mature. She walked like she was always dancing, so graceful and elegant that everyone's attention would stray to her. "Heaven help me, could it be?"

"No, it couldn't possibly." The girl's eyes grew wider in shock. She almost dropped her journal of notes and papers that stuck out from the side, almost spilling altogether.

"Sorry, do I know you?" I took a couple steps forward to get a better look.

"Yes, I think you do."

"Have we met before I remember your face?"

"Go on, take a guess"

"Wait, it can't be, can it?"

"It has been many years."

"Oh, my God, I can't believe it's you, Meg." Tears start to prick my eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. "You have grown up so much that I could barely recognize you; you're regal as a queen and beautiful."

"You as well."She nodded her head, still stunned. After a moment she hugged me back as well.

"Do you know who wrote that piece?" I asked joyously.

"It is mine."

"Really?" I looked at her stunned. I had always thought that she would be a ballerina all her life, dancing to songs that someone else made but then she turned out to be the one who wrote the piece. She must have worked hard to be able to write something like that. I was very proud of her. "Look at you, the star of the show."

"And you, a wife and mother."

"It isn't all that glamorous as we think it will be."

"Uh huh."

I looked around when we parted. "How is Marco, is he here?"

"No, he is in Paris still with some business."

"Oh, that is a shame. I was hoping to see the two of you together again." I confessed really disappointed about Marco's absence. "I have missed you so much my little ballerina."

She hugged me. "I've missed you too Christine."

"Honey." When we parted I saw a tear run down her cheek. Wiping it away I held her face in my hands and stroked her cheek with my thumb.

"You have changed so much. You're back to your normal self again. You are just like how I wanted to remember you as. Before you wouldn't have called me honey or hug me. Instead you would have brushed me aside or not even notice me. I was so mad at you for leaving him that I hated you. I thought that when I saw you that I would tell you how I really feel but it seems that what I really felt was that I was neglected." She clung tighter to me. "I was afraid to face you because I didn't know what you would do. I was so afraid for the past ten years that I had done something wrong for you to hate me and leave me. I missed my big sister."

"Shh… everything is alright. You didn't do anything wrong. No, more talk of this darkness, no more of these wide eyed fears. I am here, nothing can harm you. My words will warm and calm you. " I patted her head to try to calm her down. I held on to her, rocking side to side to quiet her down. She had become like a little kid again. It was bitter sweet to be reunited with her because I didn't know if I was truly forgiven and that it was a joy to see her at last.

"You're here to see the sights, of course." She released me to dry her eyes and smiled once she finally was able to compose herself.

"Yes, and sing."

"Sing?" Her eyes grew large in terror.

"Yes and of course, as a treat for my son." I gestured to Alexander who waited patiently behind me. "Gustave this is Meg, a dear old friend of mine."

He took a step forward until he was separating the two of us. Taking Meg's hand he bowed his head over it and smile. "It is nice to meet you, Miss Meg."

"And a pleasure it is to meet you too." She smiled. "What are you to sing?"

"Just one little thing, an aria. I believe he said that the two of you are to write it together."

"Do you know who hired you to sing here?"

"I am fully aware of who invited us here." I answered.

"Then you must leave. With you here he might do something rash like burn down the city if you don't agree to stay."

"I don't think he would do such a thing. Those days are behind him now."

Meg shook her head. "No they aren't. How do you think he got all the money to open this park? Did you think that someone had to sleep with all those big name business men? No, he threatened them to get the money. He had to kill people also to get where he is today. And when someone annoys him he gets rid of them. He still gets his way through bloodshed and torture. These past ten years have only made him worse. He has become more ruthless and sinister with each passing day. I have seen him when he is lost to the world. Now that you're here he won't hold back and he will use whatever trick that is necessary to keep you. He will not let you go a second time."

"I know." I said calmly. The idea that Erik was still killing and threatening didn't sit well but that was just reality. It was in his nature as was hunting is in a tiger's. You could bring him to civilization but he would still have the instinct to try and survive and I needed to learn to grow a backbone to deal with it. Although I needed to accept the fact I was still against it. I was going to try to train Erik to control his urges and live a peaceful life. I thought I had but I guess it had not worked. Even though I was afraid that he might hurt me or Alexander I knew what I had to do. "But I will still go through with it."

"Mother." Alexander warned. "I don't like the sound of this. If he is as dangerous as Miss Meg said than we should turn back while we still can."

"I gave my word. I will perform."

"Please… don't do it." He looked up at me with wide fearful eyes. Then he whispered to me "If not for me than for Ange, please. If she didn't have you she would be crushed, and what about Father? If he knew…"

"If he knew than he would trust in my decision." I informed, cutting him off before he could speak again.

"Meg?" Raoul's voice chimed. All three of us turned our attention to him; he had a glass of whiskey in one hand and his hat in the other. He looked off balance when he walked over and had such an obnoxious grin plastered on his face.

Meg gave a fake smile in response. Her eyes turned cold and hollow in a split second that the change was surprising. She looked more like her mother than herself that it became quiet unnerving. "Hello Vicomte."

"Is this a jest?" He joked.

"I don't see anyone laughing."

"Same old Meg, always the joker. You work here, then."

"Yes and you?"

Raoul showed a piece of paper. "We've come to work you see for a Mister contract's here."

"I want to see." Grabbing it she read the page carefully.

"Inform your boss that by the by the fee goes up or else we go. Another grand or two more should do rather nicely."

"My God," Meg gasped. "That is rather high. It is too absurd for just one night. The price should have been enough for a Queen."

Raoul chuckled. "Not for every kingdom."

"Oh crap!" Alexander cried in surprise quietly when he read the amount on the contract that Meg was holding and added what Raoul wanted. He pulled on my sleeve and whispered in my ear the sum.

I turned to Raoul with a shocked expression. "Raoul, Meg is right that it is way too much."

"Just make sure he will." Raoul ignored me and told Meg.

"That's all very well but till you're gone, you'll wait upon my boss' whim." Meg smiled.

"I beg your pardon."

"You heard me. While you are here you answer to Mr. Y."

"Ah yes," Raoul remembered. He took Meg aside by her elbow. "Who is your boss? I have a couple of complaints for Mr. Y."

"It's him."

"Did I hear you right? Him?"

She nodded with cold eyes staring at me and Raoul. "That's what I said."

"You work for him?"

"Now so do you."

"And my poor wife, we thought him dead. She'll be appalled…" He stopped himself and looked at me. "Unless she knew."

I looked over at them and found them staring at me. Raoul's eyes were as big as saucers and Meg's were frightened. He marched over and grabbed me by the arm.

"Did you know?" Raoul demanded. "Did you know that it was him?"

"Ow, that hurts!" I cried. "Please let me go."

"I won't until you answer me."Raoul yelled. Tears streamed down my face because of the pain. Meg stepped in to try and pry him off of me. He ignored her. His hand tightened around my arm painfully that I was close to screaming. It felt like a python had gotten a hold of my arm. "Did you know?!"

"Let me go." I cried in desperation.

"Let her go!" Erik's voice boomed. Raoul released me in fright while Meg looked around for her employer. I rubbed my arm and looked around. Everyone there had vanished leaving the four of us alone on stage.

"You! You disgusting bas—" Raoul began to insult.

"I will not have any of that in my theatre!"Erik cut him off before he could say anything more. "Right now I could be saying that about you as well."

"Why you…" Then something happened to Raoul at that moment. He fell to the ground so suddenly that it took me a while to realize what had happened. It seemed like he had fainted or had been drugged somehow. I ran over to him to check his pulse. He reeked of alcohol so much so that I didn't have to be a doctor to know that he had had way too much to drink.

"Meg, please find a place for Raoul to sober up away from here." I instructed. She nodded and threw one of his arms around her shoulders to carry him away. I bent down to Alexander. "Can you wait in that chair over there for a second?"

"He has gotten more despicable with age." Erik's voice said when all three of them had left me alone on the stage. I turned around and there was Erik standing there. I smiled sheepishly and he returned it with a smile tugging at his stone face. He drew closer to me and my heart began to start beating wildly. He looked the same as he did when I first met him when I was fifteen years old except one noticeable thing that I might not have mentioned. Erik's mask was still as black as a raven's wing in the midnight sky as it had been before. Yet the style of his mask had changed. Instead of a half mask he had worn a similar mask that Claude Rains had worn in 1943 Phantom of the Opera. It covered the top half of his face which should have made him scarier but he looked more mysterious, more dashing. When I saw him in the moonlight wearing it my heartbeat quickened so rapidly that I thought that my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Even now I wanted to race to his arms but my conscience advised me otherwise.

I rubbed my arm to try to stop it from hurting. Erik grabbed my hand gingerly and pulled a vile from his vest pocket. After taking of the top he poured a blue gel where the skin started to bruise where Raoul's hand had constricted my arm. I winced and squeeze Erik's hand. It first felt like hot daggers were piercing my skin then the feeling turned to where it felt like cool ice cubes were massaging my muscles. I looked at my arm and where the blue gel had been had already been absorbed into the skin. Touching it nervously I found that it no longer hurt.

"Thanks." I said when I moved my arm back and forth with ease. "It isn't his fault. Christine kind of screwed him up so you mustn't blame him."

He sighed with frustration as he put the stopper back on the bottle. "I do blame him though. There are other ways to cope than to drink."

"Like killing?" I accosted.

Underneath his mask his eyes grew wide. "Where?"

"Meg told me everything. All about the threats and where you got all the money. God Erik, I thought you changed."

"I have."

"No, when my back is turned you go back to your old ways. I don't know if I can trust you."

Erik glared at me through the mask. "I have been here for ten years. In this place you have to be ruthless or you'll get eaten alive. I did what I had to do to survive and if that meant a couple of lives lost then so be it."

"But killing innocent people." I tried to point out.

"They are as innocent as I am. The people that I have killed and tortured for the last decade have done far worse than I have. I never harmed or will harm a woman or child but they have tortured and killed them without an ounce for remorse. By killing them I am doing a favor to their victims.

I groaned and clenched my fists until my nails dug into the palms of my hands. "So this is some sort of justice in your mind?"

"In a way, yes."

"You are unbelievable."

"And you are like a child."

"You are being such a—"

"Look." Erik pointed a finger at me. "That is who I am. A man as hideous as this is capable of anything. It is of my nature to kill to survive; it is all I have ever known. Freaks such as me have grown up alone, People like you would never understand."

"I do know what it is to be like alone."

"But you have never been shunned by society. It is different when you feel alone compared to when you are alone. You had your family to keep you for going insane and murderess. I had no one. You were sheltered and comforted when you cried. I had only myself. I had to build a wall around myself to protect myself. Until you came into my life and the last ten years I had only myself to protect. Now that you are here I have something I want to fight for yet you won't let me. Why Roxanne? Why?"

"Because I don't want you to turn again!" I confessed. "The last time you did I was afraid. I don't want you to change into some psycho again and forget who you are. I don't want you to forget who you really are on the inside. But if you want to become like a real monster than go ahead on the path that you are down right now for all I care."

"Roxanne."

"Alexander, come on we are leaving now." When he did not come I tried again. "Alexander?!"

But he did not come. I waited another moment but he still didn't come to me. I looked over at where he should have been sitting but the chair was empty. My heart almost stopped beating. I gasped. Alexander was gone.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Any Love Never Dies.**

**Such grand old friends, such devoted and sweet readers. Words cannot suggest what's in my heart and for the rest why even start? My dear old friends. So much longer near old friends. Back again at last when everyone is reviewing. Won't you review for a dear old friend?**

**I do hope you like this chapter.**

Well... well... well... We are already to chapter 6 and it has only been around a month since I wrote the first chapter. I am much faster than I was around a year ago when I first started The Ghost of the Opera. It is amazing how far this has come. I should reminsice in the last Chapter or I won't have anything to say.

**I have a question for you guys: In a couple weeks I am going to this state thing for a musical I am doing and there is a dance and I wanted to know what costume/character I should go as. It can be a character from any musical or TV series. I have at least 2 options just in case I can't find anything else (Eponine; Sybl or Mary from Downton Abbey). So please tell me your ideas via REVIEW or PM.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Alexander_

Alexander had walked out of the theatre because he felt something pull him away like there was a string that was attached to his chest. He couldn't control his own body, well he could but it was being guided in a certain direction. It felt like he was on a coaster and was being guide along the rickety tracks. There was a faint voice in the back of his mind telling him that it wanted to show him something. It sounded a lot like his mother's voice; it was so trusting and innocent that he had to do what it told him to do. It had led him out of the theatre and to the streets of the amusement park.

All around him there were children and adults running every direction like they didn't have a care in the world. They ran by him, sat on tables and a few of them were standing there waiting for another surprise.

Horrifying screams jumped to Alexander's right suddenly that he flinch. He turned and found a building with posters painted on it of bearded ladies and freaks that were grotesque to everyone else except him. He thought they were beautiful in their own right. He didn't understand how people can be cruel to them. It broke his heart thinking about how people can hurt others like that. On the rides there were squeals of delight that turned into screams of terror and then they turned into squeals of laughter. He watched as one of the coasters was bringing a trail of cars up its wooden frame up to the sky and pause for a moment before hurdling back down to earth at unbelievable speeds. He loved hearing people enjoy themselves that he himself started to enjoy himself. Their cries vibrated in his ears as he walked past it.

It brought a smile to his face that it made him whistle a tune of happiness. He didn't understand why he whistled when he was happy but it was just the way he was. It was part of him like his leg or his ear. He knew he was strange and he embraced it.

**But why am I so strange? **Alexander asked himself. **A better question is: Why am I even thinking about whistling? It seems pointless.**

_Who are you?_ A voice demanded.

Alexander looked around but everyone acted like nothing happened.

_I said, who are you?_ The voice demanded again. Alexander froze. _Answer me!_

**M-my n-name is Alexander.** He answered sheepishly.

_Alright, Alexander, why are you in my body?_

**Excuse me?**

_I said—!_

**I heard, you loud and clear.** Alexander cried in his head. He started to walk again after seeing that he was drawing attention to him. **Your name is Gustave, isn't it?**

Gustave seemed to have been taken back by Alexander's question. _Yes. How do you know my name?_

**I believe we have met before.**

Picking through his memory Gustave remembered a certain dream that he had once a long time ago about another boy and how Gustave told him his life story after they played together. Gustave never believed in coincidences. _You are right! I apologize for my rudeness but in my circumstance I hope you understand why._

**I would be suspicious too if someone had taken over my body. **Alexander sympathized with his old… friend.

_You know I think this has happened before._

**Where?**

_My mother, _Gustave confessed. _She told me that she had a similar experience like this but after some time it was hard for her to keep her energy so she just slept for a little while. When she woke up she was in total control of her body again and the girl in her head was gone._

** What was the girl's name?**

_I believe it was Roxanne._

**That's my Mom's name.**

_So your mother was here before?_ Gustave asked. _Where is she now?_

**My Mom is talking to Mr. Y so she probably doesn't know I' even gone yet. Alexander silently sighed to himself.** Then something made Alexander stop in the middle of the traffic and turn to the looming building next to him. It was a wooden building with a sign that had big blue letters that said The Halls of Mirrors.

_Why don't we have a little fun before we turn back?_

….

"I thought you told him to wait right there." Erik said.

"I did." I shook my head to try and snap out of the first wave of shock that ran through my body. As soon as that past dread and worry filled my soul. I needed to sit down but I was unable to move from where I stood. My heart was going a million mile per hour and I was having trouble breathing properly. Fear and worry clouded my vision to the point where I could barely see straight. There was a pounding in my head that made thinking properly nearly impossible. "He just didn't listen."

"Apparently." He snapped as he walked over to the side of the stage to pull a lever.

"Don't you dare snap at me." I warned.

"You just admitted that it's your fault."

"It is just as much as your fault as it's mine."

"I know that already."

"When I find him he is going to be in a world of trouble." I announced with fiery tears in my eyes. I tried to dry them but they were unstoppable.

Erik wrapped his arms around me and stroked my hair lovingly. "Don't worry, we will find him."

In the matter of minutes the trio of freaks that greeted us when we first got here had appeared. Meg was almost knocked over by the biggest one when she walked back on stage to us. "What happened? I just saw Alexander walk out to the Amusement park all alone. There were two men following him into the hall of mirrors."

"Erik." I gasped.

"Go and bring the boy to me." Erik ordered. "I don't care what it takes just find him and bring him back safe, am I understood?"

They nodded and with a deep bow they dashed out of the room quickly in three directions that lead away from the theatre. He put his coat on and placed fedora on top of his head. Before he was about to disappear into the darkness I called out to him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get my son back." He called back. He ran into the darkness and I could hear him yell back. "Stay with Meg until we get back."

…..

_Alexander_

There was a mirror outside of the building that when he passed by it he grew several inches in his reflection. Making a strange face at his mirror image he laughed at how silly he looked and continued to make weird faces. In the wavy mirror that bent his image his face grinned back at him.

_I look so weird._ Gustave announced between peals of laughter.

Alexander shook his head. He moved to the mirror that was normal. **You mean we look so weird.**

_I didn't want to offend you._

**Don't worry about it.** Most people labeled him as weird or strange, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter who told him that he was a freak or weird instead he welcomed it like a warm compliment. To him he was fine being alienated from the rest of the world in fact it seemed more natural than being confined to an act where he wasn't able to convey how he feels.

He continued to make faces that he would normally show to Ange when they were getting ready for bead in the bathroom. Then she would mimic him and make a new face that would make him laugh in response.

The thought of Ange left a hole in his heart. **I think Ange would have loved this place.**

_Who's Ange?_

**My little sister.**

_How old is she? _Gustave asked becoming extremely interested in Alexander's back story.

**Three years old and she is the cutest thing in the world.**

_You have a sibling it must be so cool. _Gustave sighed._ I'm an only child and most of the time I'm all alone._

Alexander shrugged. **Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't but I wouldn't trade her for the world.**

_Why did you leave her, then?_

**I didn't. **Alexander stopped smiling at himself in the mirror and his eyes turned cold. He walked away from the mirror and back the way he came.

Someone covered his mouth and pulled him into the dark alley way between the two buildings then threw him to the ground. Alexander landed hard on his back. He stared up at his attackers with fearful eyes.

…

_Roxanne_

"Christine, wait!"Meg followed after me as I ran to follow Erik. She grabbed my arm to stop me. Her presence turned into the little girl that I once knew. The look in her eyes when she looked up at me was full of fear and innocent. "Please wait here, it's dangerous."

"My son is in danger." I countered fiercely. I closed my eyes to check myself from lashing out on her. "I'm not going to lose him."

She changed from a mature adult into a small child in a blink of an eye but then she checked herself and resumed her distant look in her eyes. She looked straight in to my eyes with a certain respect. "I understand that."

"So then let me go."

"Erik told us to wait."

"To Hell with what Erik said!" I snapped yanking my arm out of her grasp.

"But—"

"I'm not going to sit around to wait and see if they come back alive."

She didn't follow me any longer; she only was telling me not to go. But I didn't pay any attention to her while I reached the crowded streets of the park. My eyes scanned to try and find Erik but he was nowhere to be found.

…

_Erik_

**Please be safe Alexander, please.** Erik prayed.

….

_Alexander_

He looked back up at his two attackers but their faces were shadowed for a while and he couldn't see. The outlines of their bodies were massive in size and towered over Alexander like he was the smallest thing alive. When his eyes adjusted the two men had murky eyes that were sunken into their high, wide forehead and bulky noses; one's looked like it had been broken several times in a fight, the other's was flattened as if someone had squashed it back into his head. One had a long scar that ran from a little above his brow, across his eye and down to the middle of his cheek. His buddy had a Native American tattoo across the side of his face and the lower part of his arm. Both of their jaws were square and angled and their heads meddled into thick muscular necks then into wide, broad shoulders. They had barrel chests were covered in a white shirt with a dark, plaid vest over. The tattoo guy had a thick metal chain in his hand.

_Someone help us! _Gustave cried helplessly.

**There is no use in calling for help. No one will hear you, remember.**

_Please someone save us._

"Boss said to not leave a mess." The guy with the scar said.

"No Sam," The Tattoo guy laughed. "Boss meant to say leave a mess, idiot."

….

_Erik_

His heart was beating faster than his feet were moving across the ground. He was running so fast that if the devil was chasing him that Erik would have been miles ahead of him. There was nothing that crowded his mind as he ran; only one thing was dominating it: Alexander.

If only he had been paying more attention to his son and not arguing with his wife then Alexander wouldn't be in any danger. It was his entire fault. But self pity would not protect his son from people who wanted to hurt him.

"Damn it!" Erik cursed himself as he ran through a crowd of people who were going all different directions. They barely even noticed him as he pushed them out of the way. They were to absorb in themselves that he was no more that a wisp of wind blowing past them. They were laughing with each other and seemed to taunt Erik as he flew past them. He was trying to search for where the Hall of Mirrors had taken residence in Phantasma. Though he had never been there or wanted to go in the first place he knew almost exactly where it was and he was close.

He only wished that he could get there fast enough.

….

_Alexander_

"Hey, George this the kid?" The scar guy smiled and Alexander saw two teeth missing that left a big gap. In the gap of his teeth there was a huge cigar wedge between them.

His friend lifted Alexander by the collar. "Yeah it's him, alright." He confirmed after taking a good look at him.

_I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die._ Gustave realized. _Oh God, they are going to kill me._

**I need to think.**

"Hello Gustave." The tattoo guy greeted with his breath reeking of stale beer.

_What are we going to do? _Gustave asked as his voice trembled._ We are going to get killed. I haven't even lived that long there is so much I want to do. There was so much I wanted to see. But now I'm going to die. Alexander, what are we going to do?_

**Please shut up for a minute while I think of something. **Alexander snapped. Gustave went silent but continued to whimper a little and Alexander was able to think clearly. Something clicked in Alexander's head.

"Gustave?" Alexander asked with a think Brooklyn accent. "Nah, name's Al."

_What are you doing?_

**Shh.**

"Al." Sam repeated.

Alexander nodded. "That's what I said."

"You're not Gustave?"

"The last time I checked I wasn't." He pushed the guy's hands away and flashed a cocky smile at them. "Now, if you'd excuse me."

George placed a beefy hand over Alexander's chest to stop him. "Where are your parents?"

"Don't got none." Alexander told the two guys easily without breaking a sweat. **Lying isn't that hard to do if you can do it right.**

"How'd you get in?" George asked.

Alexander shrugged nonchalantly. "I snuck in."

"How?" Sam asked with a surprised look on his ugly face.

"Like this." Alexander then dashed past them and into the crowded streets where he started to run as fast as he could away from them. He maneuvered around the people as fast as he could.

_That was your master plan?_ Gustave asked incredulously. _To run?_

**Do you have any better idea?** Alexander asked. He looked back behind him and the two thugs were closely following behind him by pushing people out of their way.

_No._ Gustave squeaked. Satisfied by winning the battle Alexander paid more attention to his getaway.

There was little time to plan so Alexander was going on his pure instincts to find a place to hide. He looked for the nearest building so he could think on what to do next. When he found it he dashed inside without looking back to see if his attackers were perusing him. He ran deep inside the attraction. It was so dark that he eyes had to slowly adjust to what was lurking in the darkness around him. He could barely breathe any longer. The only sound that he could hear for a long time was the sound of his heart pounding in his ears wildly. While he tried to regain his breath he leaned against something ice cold. He swiftly turned around to look behind him and it was his own reflection staring back at him, mimicking the surprised expression on his face. He slowly backed away from it then he heard loud heavy footsteps were storming in where the entrance was, echoing off the mirrors surrounding him.

A hand grabbed his should and turned him around as the other was place over his mouth. Alexander tried to scream but when he faced his assailant it was Mr. Why. A sensation of relief rolled over Alexander's body as he stared into Mr. Why's dark trusting eyes. The masked man put a finger to his lips as he took his other hand off of Alexander's mouth. Mr. Why put his hand up to tell Alexander to wait where he was. The frightened boy nodded and watched as Mr. Why ran to the direction of where the footsteps were. There were sounds of struggles that rang through the maze of mirrors. He waited for a while but his curiosity got the better of him so he started to walk over to where his savior ran off to. By feeling his way by listening to the sounds Alexander was able to walk where he though Mr. Why was. But then the sounds stopped and so did Alexander. He stood there, again back in cold silence.

Then he heard footsteps coming from behind him and he realized that he was trapped. He fell to the ground while covering his eyes with his hands as he waited for something to happen next. The footsteps kept coming closer and closer until finally he heard them stop right behind him. Alexander turned around and found Mr. Why kneeling in front of him. The man glared at him. "I thought I told you to wait."

Alexander remained silent.

Mr. Why sighed. "Come on." He stood up and offered Alexander to take his hand.

He hesitated. Slowly he took the hand that he was offered and was helped up to his feet. With a small nod the Phantom guided Alexander through the maze of mirrors. Gustave kept asking Alexander who the man who saved them was but he finally gave up after realizing that he wouldn't get answer so he instead just waited and observed quietly. Mr. Why and Alexander didn't even talk to one another the whole time they were walking out of the attraction. Even when the blinding light of day flashed into Alexander's eyes making him shield his face they remained silent.

"Alexander!" A voice called from far away. He looked around and he spotted his Mom running to him. Releasing Mr. Why's hand he sprinted into his mother's arms gratefully. Tears ran down her face and on to his cheeks as she kissed his cheeks. She placed her forehead on top of his. "Never scare me like that ever again mister."

"Yes mom." Alexander promised.

"Thank God you are alive."

"Don't worry mom. Mr. Why saved me." Alexander reassured her. His mother continued to hug him. Alexander looked back at the man who saved him. Mr. Why was talking to the three freaks that greeted his mother and him when they arrived in this place. When they scurried into the Hall of Mirrors Mr. Why turned his attention to Alexander and his Mom. With a grateful smile from Alexander Mr. Why returned it with a nod and walked towards them.

"Are you alright Alexander?" Mr. Why asked.

Alexander gave a half smile. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Mr. Why nodded and looked at Alexander's Mother. She took a deep breath in and stood up while holding Alexander's hand. "You've had a rough afternoon. Let's go back to the hotel."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies.**

**Sorry that this took some time to write but my computer decided that it was time to not work and I am not feeling too well lately. But Rain or shine I will work on this story as long as I can. **

**I wanted this chapter to be orginal and different so I used a different writing style. I promise that it won;t be like this for the whole entire story but it will show up again. In regards to the question "Will you include Beauty Underneath"? The answer is Yes but the it will no be the next chapter but the chapter after that. In this chapter I wanted Alexander to accept Erik as a friend before we go into Beauty underneath so he could trust him.**

**Now I'm not going to do a song to tell you to review because frankly I can't think of any that would fit the chapter so my challenge for you is to post a review request in the form of a song from Love Never Dies and I will use some of them in the next chapters in the Author's note. I swear that I will give full recogniton to who posted it so please don't be shy.**

**Alright I'm done so I'll just end with this: Please review**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Stop sulking in the dark." I scorned. "You are acting like a spoiled child who couldn't go to a party so he is pouting in the corner telling his parents not to go."

"I see no point for you to go to the party." Erik grumbled. He was leaning against the wall watching me get ready for that night. His eyes never wavered from where they had secured a spot to stare at me through the mirror. Since the time that he had arrived he had stayed in the same position and watched me like a hungry hawk. It made me feel a little uncomfortable because in the past ten years he hasn't looked at me in such a way; most of the time it was sweet and eager but now it was possessive. That should have been my first warning to make him stop but I knew that I had slipped through his fingers and he had not seen me for a long time here. I had to cut him a little slack or it would make me feel like I was choking him.

I sighed as I looked in the mirror while putting on my red lipstick. "It would be considered rude if a big star like Christine didn't go to this party."

"What is this party for by the way?" He asked.

"It is for a fundraiser for the Arts that Mr. Hammerstein is hosting." I placed the cap back in the lip stick.

"Again pointless."

"How is it pointless?" I inquired. "It is a fundraiser to help the less fortunate. I would think that you would appreciate the kind thought."

Erik rolled his eyes and shifted so he could stand up straighter. "It is a nice thought if that what it was actually for is for the rich to brag about how much money they can have and throw it away for a party to say they are helping those in need. They are all the same. They only care about themselves.

"I can't win can I?"

He shook his head.

"You are such a child sometimes, you know?"

He rolled his eyes and continued to interrogate me. "Speaking of children, where is Prince Charming?"

I snorted a laugh. "You need to work on you material because it's getting petty, even on you standards."

Erik shrugged. "I'm rusty."

"Raoul went on ahead." I informed as I put in the ruby earrings. Through the mirror I could see him staring at me.

"To make some new rich friends so he can borrow more gambling money?"

"I don't know if I should scold you or to agree." I reached for the necklace but Erik placed a hand over mine.

"Allow me." Erik whispered in my ear. Looking up into Erik's dark eyes that hid behind his black mask I willingly took my hand away and I lifted my hair to let him to fasten it around my neck. His hands lingered on my neck as if to present what his handiwork had accomplished. "Is Alex getting ready?"

"Uh-huh." I gave a small laugh. "Our little Alex is just in the other room."

I almost never called him by his nickname then because he once told me that he wasn't three anymore when he was seven and refused to be called by anything but Alexander. One time we were in the shopping mall when he was seven and I said 'Alex, don't touch that toy,' he bolted in a furious rage and hid in the men's dressing room in Macy's. He would come out until we promised never to call him Alex ever again. Sometimes he will now let us call it by his nick name now.

"He isn't too keen in going, is he?"

I turned around. "What do you think?"

"At least that means we will never have boring parties with ancient people when we leave him at the house when he's older."

"He's your son."

He smiled slightly and chuckled. "I don't know whether that is a good thing or bad thing."

"Since he is my kid I say it is a compliment." I stood up to smooth the ruby red dress' skirt that sparkled like diamonds in the moonlight. Erik offered me his hand and when I took it he spun me around to present me to him, the A-line skirt wrapped around me. I had never worn a dress that had that type of elegance in the stunning fabric.

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Nothing." He brushed aside his thought and moved on to the next. "Do you like your outfit that I bought you?"

I blinked back my surprise at never realizing that the box that the dress and jewelry were in was sent by Erik. I had thought Raoul left it because Erik was there when I was putting it on. "It is gorgeous."

"Red does suit you very nicely. It shows your fiery attitude and your beauty."

"What were you thinking about before?"

"I completely forgot."

"Liar."

He smiled mischievously as he slid a hand around my waist. "It's just that I had almost forgotten how beautiful you are."

I felt my cheeks reflected the same color as the dress that I wore before I pulled away from him. "You better leave before Alexander comes out and asks why you are here."

"Fine." He sighed as he turned to leave. Right before he was out of the door he stopped and turned toward me. "I might have a surprise for Alexander later."

"Nothing too dangerous I hope." I exhaled weakly. His answer was only a small smile and a quick kiss on the cheek. Then he ran through the other room and jumped off the balcony. I followed after him. When I reached the railing he was nowhere to be found and I rested my arms on the stone while shaking my head. "Show off."

"Mom?"

I turned and saw my dashing young man dressed up in a crisp black suit with a matching bowtie. In all my life my son had never looked more like his father to me than at that moment. It took my breath away. "Are you already?"

He nodded and walked to stand beside me. He looked up at the stars with me. "I wish Ange and Dad were here to see this."

"I do too Alex." I sighed with a smile forming on my face. "I wish they were here with us too."

He sighed and pushed his hands against the railing for support. We stayed that way only for a minute or two until Alexander broke the silence. "Shall we?"

….

_Alexander_

**This party is so stupid.** Alexander thought to himself. Now, Alexander wasn't the type of child who labeled things stupid because he thought that calling them stupid was stupid. But when you are ten years old with all of the people in the room are ancient and there was nothing to do but stand by the wall and watch the other guests dance gleefully in circles as you sip on sparkling cider, things tend to become pretty stupid to you. So all he could do was watch and wait.

There was a strange should-be-fictional man with his arm around Alexander's Mom's waist as they talked to two older gentlemen who seemed that they had nothing important to say what so ever.

He laughed to himself. **If Dad was here that guy would have a noose around his neck.**

_Your Father sounds nice._ Gustave said with heavy sarcasm.

Alexander chuckled to himself. **He is.**

He walked alone out of the building to where cool fresh air blew into his face. The air was so thick that it made his head spin wildly. There was a mixture of different perfumes and colognes that Alexander felt like he was choking on the air. He needed to have some space and time away from those people.

"Hello." A tall woman greeted him with a far too friendly smile.

**Damn it, I spoke too soon.**

Alexander looked up at her powdered white face that was lined with unneeded blush, liner and whatever else women wore back then. There was so much eye makeup that lined around her eyes that it looked like her eyes were sunken into her skull almost skeleton like. Her lashes were too thick and clumped together in different spots and when she blinked specks of black fell on her burgundy cheeks. Her lips were painted to the color of a rotten tomato and were puckered like she was sucking on a lemon.

Alexander reluctantly smiled. "Hello?"

"So you are the Famous son of Christine." She screeched while she pelted him with spit. Without her noticing he wiped a bit off of his cheek and continued to smile.

"Yes ma'm."

"Oh and such manners you have." She snorted; fanning herself like it was the middle of July in the South. "You are a bona fide little gentleman are you?"

He nodded.** She is revolting.** Alexander stated.

Gustave gasped. _I have never been able to say anything so nasty about someone._

**Start practicing.**

"How old are you?"

_She looks like an old wicked witch who has been bathing in rotten garlic for weeks._

**That was ok. Keep practicing though.**

"Ten."

"You look much older than ten." The old lady laughed.

**God, why won't she leave me alone?** He gritted his teeth as he tried to hold his tongue. "I have always been tall for my age."

"What is it like to have a Famous mother?" She questioned.

There's a question that he didn't have to lie about the answer to. Alexander had to grow up around two parents that were very well known in the art community so he knew it more than anyone what it was exactly like. "It is hard at times but she loves what she does and I love it too."

"Oh my you act like you're a little grown up." She paused and looked around for a minute. Then she grabbed his arm tightly. He tried to wrench it out of her grip but the batty thin boned woman was as strong as a buffalo.

Bending down to come closer to his level she whispered a question. "How is your parents relationship holding up after your father borrowed so much money?"

"Let me go." Alexander ordered.

"Thank you for finding him Mademoiselle Marigold." Mr. Why's voice thanked from over her shoulder. Both of Alexander's and the lady's attention was on him now. Even though his words were cheery his face was obscured by his mask and was frozen in a grim expression. His hand squeezed her shoulder until she released Alexander's arm. "But I think he would like it if you let him come with me."

She huffed and stormed off and went back to the party in a fit. Alexander smiled gratefully and looked back at Mr. Why. "Thanks."

Mr. Why nodded. "Let's take a walk and get to know one another better."

….

_Erik_

"Do you have any siblings?" Erik asked. Even though he already knew the answer he had to ask the questions like he knows nothing about his own son.

"I have a younger sister named Ange who looks like a little angle but is a little devil in disguise. She is a little tyrant. She laughs at the silliest things then cries when she doesn't get what she wants. Dad, Mom and I spoil her rotten." Alexander admitted. He laughed at himself. "I am the worst because I can never say no to her."

Erik smiled. "Sounds like you are a good older brother."

"Yeah." Alexander stopped abruptly. He scratched his cheek. "Well, I like to think I am."

"So you are very close then."

"Extremely."

"What about you and your Father?"

He waited for a minute before answering. "No. I barely know him."

"Not that blithering idiot that is naively thinking he is your father. Your real father. Are you close to your Father?"

"Yeah I am. He is always there for me. Well except for the last month because he had to go to France for a family thing but most of the time he is. I wish he was here though." Alexander sighed. He felt his eyes start to brim with hot itchy tears so he quickly rubbed them but not quick enough for Erik not to notice. Erik placed a hand on Alexander's shoulder to comfort him. Alexander took a deep breath in to calm himself down. "Ever since I got here I have been unable to figure out what to do. And what happened earlier today I don't want to happen again. I don't want to show that I am afraid in front of my Mom but it is hard. I try to act brave but I am only weak and small. I can't even defend myself."

Erik nodded as he took his hand away. "Your mother was the same way when she first came here. She wanted to save everyone but sometimes she forgot to save herself."

"Did you know my Dad?"

Erik paused for a moment to think about his answer. "Roxanne talks about him alot."

"He is my Hero." Alexander confessed. "My Dad is the only one who understands me."

"How is that?" Erik asked. **A Hero? Me?** He was surprised at Alexander's response.

"My Dad encourages my interest in the weird and unnatural. My Mom hates it when she finds me looking through books about things that a different but my Dad is the one who understands my passion for it." Alexander began to tell The Phantom about stories about when Alexander was small. He told him about one night when Alexander was flipping through Edgar Allen Poe's stories his father asked him what he thought of them. Now what Erik had expected from his four year old son who wore Elmo shirts and made dirt pies in the backyard to say 'It's too scary' or 'I don't get it'. Too his surprise the response that came from him was 'I think it's wonderful'. Thus began their nightly visits to the forgotten cemeteries in the outskirts of town where his father played the violin to the deceased as his young son sat on top of a tombstones smiling away.

"He once gave me a pet tarantula that escaped into the guest room where my grandparents were sleeping and we had to quietly retrieve it before anyone woke up." Alexander laughed.

Erik smiled. He remembered it quite well. Roxanne found out the next morning and had them clean the whole house until each nook and cranny was spotless. But it was worth it.

As they continued to walk around the block through alley ways Erik listened to his son talk about different memories that they had shared together like they were stories about warriors and dragons. He was filled to the brim with glee that his step became quickier to match Alexander's. He even felt like whistling; which he hadn't done in a long while.

Then Erik stopped. He had almost forgotten why he had came to Alexander in the first place. He knelt down to be at eye level of Alexander and placed both of his hands on his shoulders. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies**

**No one sent in for Beautiful so this is my own.**

**JMsoccer35's Henchmen: Come along and read this Chap, come and review faster. Come along and Follow us, come and meet the master. Hurry up and follow us, hurry if you care to. Soon the dark will swallow us, Read more if you dare to.**

Hey everyone! How are you guys doing? Good. Well that's... good. Me? I just finished the next chapter as you can Read, So I'm doing well

Sorry about that my akward self took over for a minute there. I hope you liked the Chapter and I really have no idea what else to write. So I am just going to skip to the task for you guys to post on your reviews.

The Next chapter is Beauty Underneath and I am going to have a scene where Alexander meets a Freak during his tour so your task is to think of a Name and their deformity/ability. The one that I like will be in the next Chapter. Can you do this? I Promise I will say your Username in the Author's note. To those who have made a review request song I will put them in the chapter that they fit into accordingly so whoever wants a Beauty Underneath one posted, Please review it after this Chapter or send it in a day or two because I'm going to post the next Sunday or the week after that.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

_Alexander_

"Have you ever yearned to go, past the world you think you know? Been enthralled to the call of the beauty underneath? Have you let it draw you in, past the place where dreams begin? Have you felt the full breathless pull that is the beauty underneath?" Mr. Why asked Alexander while handing him a white mask. Alexander nodded, still unsure what was going on, and he fastened it on his head. "When the dark unfolds its wings, do you sense the strangest things? Things no one would ever guess things mere words cannot express?"

"Yes." Alexander was getting more and more excited with each step he took.

"Do you find yourself beguiled by the dangerous and wild? Do you feed on the need for the beauty underneath?"

Alexander nodded.

_I don't like scary things._ Gustave whined.

**How is this scary?** Alexander asked looking around to take in the sight of the part of Phantasma that Mr. Why had led them to that had sparkling lights that lights which looked like small stars above them. They were the most beautiful sight he had ever laid eyes on.

_I'm afraid of the dark._

**Stop being a crybaby and try new things.**

_Let's turn back._

**No. **

_Please._ Gustave begged. If he was in control of his body he might have been crying. _Your mom might be worried about you._

Alexander shook his head a little so Mr. Why couldn't see him. **I want to see this Beauty Underneath that he keeps talking about.**

….

_Roxanne_

"Madame DeChangy how are you and your family liking America?" someone asked me.

"It is lovely here." I answered taking another sip of champagne. It was so dull to talk to people who boring as a funeral home. I wasn't even paying attention to who was around me. They all melded into one obnoxious person that it was hard to differentiate from one dull aristocrat from the one beside it. **If I have to stand and listen to one more old bat talk about how wealthy she is I might blow a fuse.** I thought angrily to myself. "We are having a wonderful time."

"So you have never visited before?"

I nodded. "That is right."

"Oh." One of them asked. "I am a little muddled that's all. I can hardly hear any French accent in your voice when you talk. Your husband has a heavy accent though. So I thought that you have lived here before but you say that you haven't. Why is that speak English so well?"

"That is because I learned to speak English at a very young age." I stated. I wasn't even the least worried that I had blown my cover. A lie started to form on my tongue and lips. It had become too easy for me to make up lies. I flashed a fake smile for them. "I learned it from an American who traveled with my father when they went on tour. He was the most helpful in my studies but he talked far too much for anyone not to pick up on his American accent. I would wish he could play the cello as well as he could have talked."

"Oh." They laughed together in unison.

One old lady put a hand over her heart to calm herself. "But to think that you would sing at a sideshow…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well." She sniffed into her handkerchief. "No one has ever seen the owner."

A young snotty blonde with a pig like nose became extremely interested. "Have you ever met him?"

"I heard that the owner is a murder." One lady said.

"I heard he is one of the freaks." Another gossiped.

"No, he is a ghost." I informed and smiled when I saw their frightened faces. It felt like a success to see them. I felt a pull on my sleeve and I turned around. It was Meg who had a grave expression on her face. She was breathing heavily and was keeping her balance by holding on to my arm. "What is it?"

She whispered something in my ear that made me almost drop my glass. The ladies that I was conversing with looked at me in surprise as I set my champagne down. I looked at them and curtsied. "Will you excuse me?"

Then I bolted out of the ballroom as fast as I could into the crowded streets of New York.

….

_Alexander_

He continued to follow Mr. Why for quite some time. He was starting to pay more attention to the people around him. The few who dared to stay in the park at night could see the wonders of the dark. Mr. Why and Alexander passed them as if they only existed in a dream. To Alexander they began to float around while they walked to one place to the next. All around the remaining patrons there were acrobats who were walking around on their hands in masks as they gave people balloons and necklaces. One stopped Alexander to dance around him. At first Alexander was too surprised to react at all but when the dancer handed him a red balloon he relaxed again and started to laugh. The acrobat that gave him the balloon did some wild flips and cart wheels all around him. Alexander clapped once the performance was over and the entertainer moved on to the next unsuspecting patron.

"Come along." Mr. Why urged him by taking his hand and pulling him along to what he wanted to show him.

_Where are we going?_ Gustave asked.

**I don't know.**

_Ask him._

….

_Erik_

Erik could see that the anticipation was eating Alexander alive until he no longer was able to contain himself. "Where are we going?"

"All in good time." Erik smiled as he continued to lead Alexander deeper in his dark mysterious world.

"Are we going there?" Alexander pointed up to where the big roller coaster was plummeting down to Earth. Some of the Roller Coasters were still carrying their passengers and their screams filled his ears.

Erik shook his head and continued to walk faster. Alexander had to pick up his pace to be able to catch up to Erik but he had having trouble to keep up. But he couldn't slow down. It made Erik happy to see his son's behavior towards his world. He had to show Alexander real beauty; Beauty no one has ever truly seen but Erik. Not even Roxanne could appreciate it. No, not even his kindhearted Roxanne could be able to understand who he had only shown the surface of his world. He couldn't wait to show his son the true wonders that were hidden behind the world's dark curtains that normal people were able to see. Only Erik's flesh and blood could appreciate it. Erik grew more hopeful that Alexander might be able to accept him too. No he couldn't think about that yet. But he had to be patient. **Just wait a little while longer. **

They turned into a large brick building that was hidden behind the main street of Phantasma. Before they disappeared inside into the strange building Alexander read the sign above the door: Mr. Why's Workshop of Horrors. Alexander was unable to see a thing around him due the pitch blackness that surrounded him. He knew that there were other people in there because he could hear their rhythmic breathing all around him. He felt like he was surrounded. With the mixture of the darkness and his own imagination it was so frightening that it made him more excited as each minute ticked on. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the lack of light but most objects were still blurry.

Then someone's hands grabbed his shoulders and he nearly jumped out of his skin liked a scared cat. He looked up and found Erik standing over him. Erik smiled and gestured around him and a blue light gradually filled up the room and gave light to the things around them. "Have you felt your senses served and surrendered to the urge? Have been hooked as you looked at the beauty underneath?"

Around them there were people in glass cages that were on displayed. A stab of pain shot in his stomach at the thought of these people being trapped by Erik. Alexander thought the one person who would understand them would have been him. He reached his hand out to touch to glass but it wasn't there. Erik knew full well what it felt like to be caged up and he would never lock up a human. However for appearances, so customers feel safe, he made the optical illusion that they were confined for their protection. The oddities were there at their own free will; they weren't caged or trapped but granted a place where they could be accepted by people like themselves. They waved to Alexander and showed him their deformities or talents which made his eyes light up in amazement. In front of him was a bird like woman who was dressed in array of colored feathers; she looked exactly like a parrot would if it had turned into a person. Her eyes were large and blank as they stared at Alexander as she flashed him a quirky grin.

"Who is that?" Alexander asked pointing at her.

Gently Erik lowered Alexander's arm down and made. "That is Mrs. Mimi Mimic."

"What does she do?"

"What does she do?" Mrs. Mimi Mimic squawked. Alexander's eyes grew so wide in surprise that she copied him and cocked her head.

"She mimic's your voice or sounds and can throw it across the room. It can get a little annoying when she makes a siren sound in the middle of the night." Erik laughed at the two. "She is our little prankster."

"Oh. Can I see more?" Alexander asked.

"Of course."

"Of course." Mimi's voice said from across the room. Alexander smiled and waved goodbye to her and she blew him a kiss as they moved on to the next freak.

"When you stare behind the night can you glimpse its primal might? Might you hunger to possess hunger that you can't repress?" They moved to one of the performers who blew a stream of fire that nearly singed Alexander's face. Any other parent in the world would have been in a fit of rage if their child was nearly barbequed. But Erik made sure that his son was safe. Besides he wasn't nervous around his employees because they had become like his family and none of them would ever dare cross him. They all knew that Alexander was a special guest and the fire breather was merely trying to show off in front of him. Besides Alexander was unfazed by and clapped to show how fantastic it was.

They spent a while staring and interacting with the many different people who were human oddities that lived in Phantasma. And with each person Erik told Alexander each of their stories. Most were about how their societies discarded them in foreign countries and left them to die but instead Erik saved them by giving them a job where they can live and work. Few had kept their abilities secret until they came to America to find work so that they could send money back to their families. Erik knew every single past like they were fairytales from a story book. They passed by a man who was covered from head to toe in thick wiry wolf like hair with a dark nose that looked like a dog's. He howled at them and waved his hand when they came to his area. Next to the wolf man was a bearded lady whose beard was weaved around her neck and she danced with it like she was a ribbon dancer. Alexander laughed when she showed him that she could jump rope with it like a little school girl. Then there was the man that walked on all fours like a gorilla and a girl who had four legs that were able to work properly. There was even one girl who was like a Mermaid and had to be in a huge fish bowl with water in it so she wouldn't dry out. A man with two heads smiled at Erik and Alexander as they passed by. There were so many of them that it astounded Alexander that there were so many people who were so unique and amazing.

"It's so unbelievable." Alexander said with wonder as he started to walk quicker to the next oddity. Erik's heart beat began to beat faster and faster with each wondrous look that shown in his son's eyes as he looked at Erik's world. The moment was coming. Alexander turned to look up at Erik. "Do you see it, the beauty in each of them?"

Erik nodded. "I can see it."

"Can my mother see the beauty?"

"Not completely."

Alexander waited a moment while he looked up at a contortionist who had their legs over her shoulders into a pretzel human. To him she looked spectacularly beautiful however it still disgusted him how her body was able to withstand that type of labor. "I wonder if I can see it."

"Can you feel it?" Erik asked pointing to his heart. "Can you feel the music in you?"

"Yes."

"Can you feel the notes run through you when you even think of it?"

"I think so." Alexander said.

"It is the same thing."

"So I can see it?" Alexander asked as his eyes lit up in bright hope.

Erik bent down on one knee. "Come closer if you have no fear for the beauty that lies underneath."

Alexander stepped closer to Erik and the room seemed like it was spinning around him in a spirals of blue and pyramids. Erik placed both of his hands on Alexander's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "You can take it?"

"Yes."

Erik reached for his mask so slowly that his hand began to shake. "You'll accept it?"

"Yes."

"Let me show you the beauty underneath." He took off the mask in one movement that also took off his wig so that Alexander could see the real him. But to Erik's horror Alexander let out an ear bleeding scream as he pushed Erik down and ran away from him in fear.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies.**

**Have you ever yearned to read another chapter you want to see, just review to the story of 'The Ghost of Phantasma.' -Phan3145**

**I hope that you liked this chapter and please say if it was to expectations. Beauty Underneath is my favorite song from Love Never Dies and it is important to me that itwas done right. I have been busy lately in a production of Wizard of Oz in which I am part of the ensemble and have to be there almost every day. Sorry.**

**Thank you to Phan3145 for suppling the Review song and Mrs. Mimi Mimic. You helped me to start thinking about different types of Human freaks that were out of the ordinary.**

**Now question time: What is you favorite song in Love Never Dies and Phantom of the Opera?**

**Thank you again for reading my story**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_Roxanne_

"Alexander!" I called down the street of Phantasma. Meg was too far away for her to hear what I was trying to yell to the world and the rain that hit the pavement was muffling my desperate cries. "Alexander!"

The rain soaked me to the bone. My dress felt like I was carrying twenty pounds more on my back which weighted me down and it clung to my body making me drag it along. I had to walk quickly instead of run because it was too heavy for me to run. Each step I took seemed like I was dragging heavy chains or swimming through syrup or trying to run in a dream: I just couldn't do it. But I pressed on as best as I could. My muscles were sore and my heart was nearly leaping out of my chest as I gasped for cool air for my lungs. I was in so much pain from attempting to run in the rain in a heavy drenched dress that I thought my body would give out before I could find Alexander. I was so cold and so miserable.

Desperate tears burned and blurred my eyes and vision so that I was unable to see properly. The throbbing in my feet felt like they were being beaten with rocks which made it harder to keep going on. But I had to find my baby. He could have been kidnapped or lost or dead and I might have been too late to save him. I was panicking. I could barely stand properly because my knees are shaking. I was so mad at myself for not looking after him better.

**Alexander where are you? I should have been paying more attention to him than trying to keep the Christine façade up. **"Alexander! Alexander, where are you?"

He was nowhere to be seen. The streets were packed with people who looked at me funny as I ran past them in my party gown.

"Excuse me have you seen my son?" I asked a man who towered over me.

He brushed by me like I was air.

Thinking that it was strange for only a moment I went to a woman and asked her. "Have you seen a little boy about this tall?"

She ignored me also, walking past me like she didn't hear a thing.

"Please can you help me?" I asked a stout grumpy man who wobbled towards me. "My son, he's—"

But he acted the same as the first.

"Can anyone help me?!" I cried.

Desperately I ran to many people asking the same questions but not getting any answers. They ran past me, completely unaware of me or ran faster away. But no one answered me. They looked like they were in a daze that rendered them useless to hear me.

Then a cold wind blew in my ear. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to find a brick building looming over that was hidden from any unnoticing passerby because the bright lights that should have been lighting the sign had gone dark. It looked like it was closed off to the public for that night. But there was blue lights peeking out from the black curtains that covered the widows. Picking up my skirt I walked slowly towards it. Carefully I walked up the cold hard stairs up to the door. When I placed my hand on the door knob I heard a scream.

I opened the door so fast that it slammed against the wall as I ran inside the dark rooms. As I stood in the door way only silence of the darkness greeted me. With each step I took the floor creaked with a terrible racket. It seemed like there was no one in there like it had been abandoned for some time now. But I heard a scream. I continued to call out to Alexander but I couldn't find him. I was praying that this wasn't some sort of haunted house attraction and the scream I heard wasn't my son. Maneuvering my way through the rooms someone ran head on into me. My eyes adjusted and I saw a small child crying into my stomach as his arms wrapped around my waist. It took me a minute to realize that that small frightened child was my little boy.

"It's alright darling. Oh shh... Don't be afraid." I cooed while I smoothed his hair. He whimpered and hugged me tighter. "It's me."

"It's horrible! Horrible!" He cried. "Please don't let him get me!"

"Who?"

"Save me!"

"Christine?" I turned around to find Meg in the doorway, out of breath and drenched in rain.

She only looked at me for a split second then turned her attention to the opposite end of the room. Out of the corner of my eye a dark figure was walking slowly towards us but stopped. I looked down at Alexander then to back up to one of the people who I could entrust my life to. "Can you please take Gustave back to the hotel for me?"

"But—" She looked at me then at Erik with a confused expression.

"Meg, please." I begged.

Meg nodded and she walked up to me to take Alexander's hand. "Come along Gustave."

"No." He resisted.

"Gustave." Erik whispered our son's name.

"Stay away." He came closer to us but Alexander screamed "Don't come near me."

"Please go with Miss Giry." I instructed Alexander.

"No! No! No!" He screamed. "I won't let that monster hurt you."

Erik shrank back in the darkness as he held his hand to his face.

My heart hurt at the sight of my son rejecting his father. For Erik it must have been like someone was slicing off his arm; that was probably the equivalent of what he felt. What could be more painful than to hear your child call you a monster and reject you with so much fear and anger? It must be unbearable.

And for Alexander to call him a monster felt like he was swearing. In my house hold we never used those words to insult other people that so when I heard him say it I went into Mama-disciplining-her-child mode. I stooped down and whispered in his ear "Alexander Gustave Destler, you leave with Miss Giry right now. Do you understand me?"

He glanced up at me and held the skirts of my dress tightly which turned his knuckles pale. He was petrified. He was so scared that his hands were shaking. He looked up at me one last time. His pupils almost filled the dark colored brown of his iris, tears were brimming his eyes making them turn red. I only wanted to hold him and shield him from all that is evil in the world but that wasn't what I did. I should have for his sake but I wasn't thinking about him; I was thinking about Erik.

I gestured to Meg. He shook his head to show that he didn't want to listen to me so I bent down t his level t talk to him. "It's alright. I'll be fine, I promise."

He looked still unsure but he did as I said. At last he scurried off toward her and out of the building as fast as he could.

Erik sighed as he slid down to sit against the wall, closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. Then there was a long silence that was left between Erik and I which made it awkward to do nothing. It was hard watching him in such a state. So I walked over to him, while looking down at him I saw how broken down he was. It was looking at a wounded soldier after he has been through hell and back after he had witnessed others dying in front of him. It looked like there was a black cloud of darkness that surrounded him. He was so beaten down that he couldn't hold his head up any longer. I have never seen him look so sad before.

Slowly I sat next to him and laid my head on his shoulders. "Penny for your thoughts."

"My son despises me."Erik said in despair. "He loathes me. He can't even look at me."

"Don't think like that."

"How can I not? He ran away from me when I showed him this." He gestured to his face.

"Erik for God's sake, he is a ten year old boy, a child. He doesn't know any better."

"But he should know. I thought that he could be able to handle it because he is my son but I was wrong."

"He doesn't know you're his father." I reasoned.

"I have done a lot of wrong in my life. There have been many mistakes through my years, ones that I regret. But Roxanne, being a father wasn't. In him, my wrongness is made right and yet he loathes me just the same." He confessed. "I thought that of all people he would accept me but that was only a foolish hope. No one can ever look at my face and love it."

"I have." I comforted. Sitting back up, I placed my hand on his arm.

"You grew to it over time." He shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. "My own flesh and blood and even he recoils in horror from me, just like his mother did."

I stayed silent. He was right. I had wanted to run away from him as far as I could s that I couldn't have to see that gruesome sight. It was true that back when I was young and foolish I wasn't able accept him. I couldn't respond to that or tell him that he was wrong or protest.

He looked at me and saw the sadness grow on my face which made him feel instantly guilty. "I'm sorry."

"No you are right. I did run and everyday it makes me sick to my stomach that I did. I wish I could have been able to show you the compassion that you needed but I didn't."

"But you have been the only one to accept me in my whole life."

"That's not true, Meg loves you."

"Meg has never seen my face." Erik admitted.

"What?! She has been in your care for how long and she has never seen your face?" I was stunned. I thought that after ten years in that time Erik would have revealed himself.

He chuckled. "I couldn't risk it. At the time she was all that I had in the world. I didn't want her to shun me in disgust or flee in fear. I always wanted her to see me as some sort of magical human being and not a monster."

It nearly brought tears to my eyes when his voice cracked when he called himself a monster. In my heart I knew that he was more than an ordinary man but in others' eyes they only saw his deformity. However I would have thought that Meg would be one of the few people who could be able to accept him but I had been recently proven wrong by my own son so I didn't know what t think anymore. "But for ten years, Erik."

"It wasn't that long of time to hide it from one person since I have had to hide it from the world all my life." Erik said in deep sorrow. He sat there for awhile looking out of the crack of the window. "Are we bad parents?"

"Speak for yourself, Mister I-have-never-showed-my-adoptive-daughter-my-face." I nudged him playfully but he didn't even blink. He only stared out into space with a painful expression. I sighed. "I don't think so."

"We couldn't teach him the values of what counts is one the inside or that beauty is skin deep. We couldn't even teach him 'don't judge a cove by the book'."

I stared at him confused then realized what he was saying and I shook my head. "You mean don't judge a book by its cover."

"You know what I mean."

"My mom always said that you always make mistakes with the first born." I offered. "She said that the second born usually where you learn from your previous mistakes that you had with the first."

"What if Ange will act the same?" Erik asked.

"She won't."

"I couldn't be able to live with myself if my daughter could never look at me again."

I shook my head. "You're her whole world; she would never do something like that."

"What if when we go back this time, and if we go back, I stay like this?" Erik snarled. "She will recoil in fear just like Alexander. My own children will look at me in disgust."

"Before we left to New York Alexander got into a fight at school." I looked at my hands as I told him. Erik stood up in a rage of anger and surprise.

"What?! When we get home he is in so much trouble."

"Don't worry I have already read him his rights." I joked.

"What happened?" Erik demanded.

"He got into a fight with two boys who were older than him because they were making fun of a girl who had a deformity." Standing up I touched his arm. "He didn't judge her instead he protected her from people who were hurting her. I think there is hope."

Erik sighed and shook his head as he held my hands. "I have learned to stop hoping a long time ago."

"But I haven't." I smiled. "He will be your saving grace."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies.**

**How could you think I wouldn't guess? How could you think I wouldn't know? Do you have something to confess? I want you to review right now if so!**

I am glad that I finished this chapter. It has been a busy week for me and I sad t say this was not top priority. But I did manage to get this chapter up today so I am really happy. I tried to make this chapter less about Erik realizing about Alexander but more about reflecting on his parenting skills with Roxanne. I want to know what you thought of how I did this. Did it seem too short? Are Roxanne and Erik good parent?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

_Alexander_

** Oh my God! **Alexander screamed in his head.

He was running the fastest he had ever run away from something before; every fiber in his being told him to get away as fast as he could. But he never was able to run that fast.

But he wasn't running.

He wasn't moving at all.

He wasn't breathing but he was living.

He wasn't able to speak. He couldn't speak.

He couldn't do anything.

He couldn't feel his body.

If he could feel his body His heart was beating so fast that he could barely breathe and it felt like it was leaping out of his chest. But Alexander had no control. As soon as he saw Mr. Why's face he felt like he jumped out of his skin and was seeing everything around him as if he was watching a movie.

A scream had ripped through his throat when he saw Mr. Why's face without him doing it. He didn't scream. He never screamed. It was Gustave.

Alexander couldn't remember much else but he faintly felt himself run or at least he was watching himself run. It wasn't until after some time he realized what was happening; he was seeing what it was like for Gustave when Alexander came along. It felt like he was watching a movie or he was in a dream and couldn't do anything that he wanted to do. Then the next thing he could completely remember was the darkness around him as he ran. The only sense that was not fuzzy was his sight but even that felt impaired to him. Around him there were outlines of cages and furniture. Then he started to see shadows dart across the walls chasing after him like it was some sort of game. He thought he heard shrieks cry out from behind him.

The hallways elongated and the rooms expanded on all sides of him. He felt like he had drunk the potion in _Alice in Wonderland_ that made everything smaller. It probably just his mind playing tricks on him. The building seemed to have grown into a maze of hallways and rooms that weaved together in a tricky mess. Each way he turned it looked like he was going the wrong way or it felt like he was about to run into a dead end.

Alexander was frightened by what he saw but he knew he shouldn't run. It wasn't even him who screamed and ran away. It was Gustave.

_Mommy! Mommy!_ Gustave cried. _Someone help. Monster. Monster!_

Alexander was unable to regain control of his body so he couldn't calm Gustave down. Gustave kept running without looking where he was going because his eyes were full with tears and when he ran into Roxanne he didn't realize it until he looked up in fear at the kind face. When he recognized her face he thought it was his mother and he wrapped his arms around her waist for comfort.

"It's alright darling. Oh shh... Don't be afraid." Roxanne cooed while she smoothed his hair. Gustave whimpered and hugged her tighter. "It's me."

Inside, Alexander was comforted to hear his mother's voice trying to soothe him. He was done with that place. He was on the verge of snapping He felt like he was about to cry even if Gustave wasn't doing it for him.

"It's horrible! Horrible!" Gustave cried through Alexander's body. "Please don't let him get me!"

"Who?"

"Save me!"

"Christine?" Someone called. It's Roxanne and she's my mom not his. Alexander started to boil inside. **Her name isn't Christine. Don't call her that!**

"Can you please take Gustave back to the hotel for me?" Roxanne asked the woman. Alexander couldn't remember the girl's name.** Something with an M…Madiline, Maggie… **

"But—"

"Meg, please." Roxanne begged.** Meg! That was it.**

Meg walked up to them to take Alexander's hand. "Come along Gustave."

"No." He resisted.

"Gustave." Mr. Y whispered his name.

**That's not my name!** Alexander wanted to scream. He wanted for them stop calling him that. But he wasn't in control. Not with his body or his emotions.

"Stay away." He came closer to them but Gustave screamed "Don't come near me."

"Please go with Miss Giry." Roxanne instructed Alexander.

"No! No! No!" Gustave screamed. "I won't let that monster hurt you."

That was when Alexander snapped. Gustave's voice faded back into the background and Alexander was in control again. However it was the worst of times because his mother bent down towards his ear to scold him. "Alexander Gustave Destler, you leave with Miss Giry right now. Do you understand me?"

_**Great, now it's my fault. Nice going.**_

_What did I do wrong?_ Gustave whined.

**You couldn't keep you trap shut.**

As Alexander was having the conflicting battle with Gustave, Roxanne gestured to Meg. He shook his head to show that he didn't want to listen to me so she bent down to his level to talk to him. "It's alright. I'll be fine, I promise."

Alexander looked at her to see if there was a glimmer of doubt in her expression that he could see, that would tell him not to abandon her. But when he looked into his mother's eyes he could see that she wasn't afraid. Why wasn't she afraid? He could see that she trusted Mr. Why above anything else and he could not understand why. His Mother was the most kindhearted person he knew but he also knew that she put her complete trust and life into a few people's hands, yet she chose to put it in hands that were soaked in blood. Why?

Why did she trust such a man? How could she just forget about all about the past and move on like it was nothing? This person who had tormented her years ago, how could she trust him?

He trusted Mr. Why. He didn't trust the Phantom. Even though he wasn't extremely afraid of Mr. Why's face he still wasn't fully comfortable with it either. It wasn't even the deformity that truly troubled him all it did was making Alexander realize who this man was. It reminded him that Mr. Why was also the Phantom: some dangerous deformed man who is insane. With little memory of the actual story about this character Alexander still remembered that this man was no person to cross; He had tormented the people that worked at the opera house like they were his little voodoo puppets that he could play with. He really should have read the book or paid more attention when he watched the musical. From what he could recall Alexander remembered how frightened Christine was after the Chandelier fell because of the phantom. She was so frightened that she sang about how deeply it troubled her. Later in the Musical the Phantom had killed another guy and threatened to kill the love of her life. It gave Alexander every right to be afraid of him for his life and his mother's. The phantom was still a cold blooded killer. Mr. Why might have seemed nice to him but what if that was just a trick to gain Alexander's trust just so that he could find his opportunity to strike.

The man that he had been touring Phantasma with, the one that showed him things that Alexander longed to know more about, the man that had save his life was still the very same man who was a murderer. He felt so stupid for forgetting that. Because of his incompetence he could have gotten himself killed. Even if Mr. Why had only shown him kindness what if he was like Dr. Jekyll and turned into Mr. Hyde suddenly and kill him. He shouldn't have left his mother in that man's hands. They should have run away from him. Alexander should have done something.

But he had to trust his Mother.

With one last look Alexander let go of his mother in eyes full of tears. He walked over to Meg and they walked through the maze of a building. Without looking back he headed out of the dark room.

_You're just going to leave her there?!_ Gustave exclaimed. He could not understand why Alexander could do such a cowardly thing. _How could you?!_

**Because mother knows best.** Alexander answered simply as he wiped his eyes angrily so that no one would see the tears starting to fall. **I might not agree however at the end of the day it is her decision on what she has to do. But if he dares hurt her I will kill him, I swear on my life.**

Gustave could feel how much anger Alexander possessed deep inside him. At that moment Gustave realized that there was something else in Alexander beside him. Something evil. If Gustave was able to shiver he would have. He was afraid, not of it though. He was afraid that if Alexander didn't keep it in check it will take over him.

_Just remember not to forget who you are._ Gustave warned. Alexander's temper started to die down and so did the darkness. Gustave felt relieved. For one of the first time in his life Gustave was concerned for someone else's safety besides his own. He treasured Alexander's friendship and he didn't want to watch as Alexander threw his life away for that darkness that lived inside him.

Alexander and Meg both didn't talk to each other as they tried to find their way out. Meg didn't consol Alexander and he didn't question her on how they had found him. They walked in cold dead silence. The hallways seemed to get longer and longer, smaller and smaller, as they tried to figure out the building. The lights flickered on and everything turned back to normal. There were no longer any shadows hunting him as he maneuvered through the building. Finally they had reached the outside world. It was still dark out with millions of stars shinning down on him. The park was desolate and lonely with all of the people missing because they had gone home, gone back to reality leaving behind a fantasy. The wind howled between the buildings towards them as the lights slowly turned off leaving them in near complete darkness except for a few street lamps. Alexander jumped behind Meg and grabbed her hand tightly. He whimpered like a terrified puppy as he hid behind her skirts.

"Are you alright Alexander?" Meg asked him with a concern expression that was clearly visible in her eyes and face.

Alexander looked up at her. With a shaky voice he managed to say. "Yeah, sure, I'm alright."

"Then why are you holding my hand so tightly?"

"Oh, I was…. uh…. just making sure you weren't scared so I held your hand to let you know that I'm here."

"Oh is that all?"

"Yep." Alexander squeaked.

"Shall we go?" Meg posed.

"Ladies first." He smiled weakly.

Gustave sighed. He didn't understand Alexander. He was as brave as a soldier yet at other times he was a complete coward. At times Gustave is awed by how Alexander took on challenges will others were embarrassing for him to watch them go through it. Sometimes he was fearless and calculating like he was a few moments ago and at others, like now, he acted like a small frightened child. Who was he?

Meg broke the uncomfortable silence again. "Please don't hate Er- Mr. Y. Even though he looks that way he is really kind. His face might be gruesome but his heart isn't. You might not be able to see it but he is good. He might have done a lot of bad things in the past but he has changed. When my mother died he took care of me and after we fled the Opera house he took care of me. He still takes care of me even though I don't need it. He is a good person."

"I know that." Alexander confessed, nodding his head. "But my mother told me about the Phantom of the Opera and his murders there so I can't entirely trust him. He's a murderous monster. I can't take the chance."

"Christine told you that." Meg looked utterly shocked. She looked like someone had just punched her in the stomach without any cause.

**She didn't.** "Yeah." **No I read about it. **"She told me to be careful."** I don't even know if it's true but I can't take the risk. **

She kept shaking her head like she was trying to tell herself that it wasn't true. It looked like in her eyes something was breaking in her. "You know Christine, I mean your mom, and I weren't as close as we were back at the start. It wasn't until the events at the opera started to happen that she started to become like a sister to me. She watched over me and made sure that I was looked after. I've always wondered if Christine was some other worldly being, she was always so amazing and breathtaking. I used to think she wasn't real and that she would be gone before my eyes."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Meg pressed on.

Alexander nodded his head. "Yep. I'll be just fine."

Meg laughed.

"It is funny." Meg said. "You talk so funny at times."

"Oh?" Alexander inquired, not entirely sure what she was getting at.

"Christine talked like that until…. the night when she left. Then she rarely talked to me at all." Her voice faded until no sound came out of her mouth. Alexander looked up at her and saw that Meg's eyes glazed over as she said the last part. She was looking off into a daze like she was watching the sea of a gloomy day, thinking about a dreary past memory that still haunted her. He thought that he saw a tear run gleam as it ran down the side of her face.

He wondered why she stopped talking. "Miss Meg?"

She shook her head and smiled. "Well, it's just that sometimes you both talk like you are from America, using 'yeah' and 'sure' a lot. You even started using conjugations with only being here a couple of days, it took me years to start saying 'can't' instead of cannot or 'I'll' instead of I will. It seems funny that you have never been here before but you talk like true Americans."

"That's 'cause we are." Alexander confessed accidently. He covered his mouth quickly when he realized what he had said. **Shit!**

_What? What happened?_

**I might have accidently said something I wasn't supposed to.**

"What?" Meg looked so surprised that she stopped.

_Quick think of something, anything._

"I mean I've wished that we were true Americans and live the American dream." He thought up quickly running his hands through his hair. "You know the land of the free and the home of the brave and all that jazz."

"I know when people are lying." Meg warned pointing her finger at him. You and Christine are the exact same. You are like an open book when it comes to your emotions. I remember one time Christine—"

"Her name is not Christine." Alexander whispered as he stopped abruptly. It was barely even audible but it still went unnoticed by Meg to see that he had stopped.

"Come on Gustave. Christine told me to take you back to the hotel."

"Her name is not Christine!" Alexander bellowed. He couldn't take it anymore, all this Christine and Gustave talk. It drove him insane. He wasn't Gustave. That wasn't who he was. It wasn't who is Mom was. "It's Roxanne Destler. She's my Mom. Raoul is not my father. Erik Destler is my father. I have a little sister named Ange. And my name isn't Gustave: it's Alexander. We don't live in Paris we live here in America. Well not in this time, a hundred years from now. Mom went to the Opera house when she was in High school and she somehow went back in time and everyone mistook her for Christine. She escaped and came back home. She married my Dad had me and my little sister. Then my Dad went to Paris and my Mom and I went to New York and we accidently went back in time and here we are. Now we are stuck here. All we want to do is go back home."

"What?"

"It's the truth."

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Love Never Dies. **

**So Look with your heart and not with your eyes. A heart understands, a heart never lies. So please review what's in your heart.**

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been a while. I have been busy with the Production of Wizard of Oz I was in, I was ensemble if anyone wanted to know, so I haven't been able to get on a computer and work. But I finally was able to post the new chapter and the next one will come next week.

**So How are you liking the story so far? This Chapter is a continuation of the last Chapter and I wanted to show Alexander's side of the story. I wanted to show another level to his Character and I wanted him to become a lot more like Erik and I want to know your opinions on the Chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_ Meg_

She stared down at the floor as if she was staring into a crystal ball to look for answers. The incandescent lights were barely glowing to where there wasn't any spark shining in the metal filaments. She could barely see the floor beneath her feet or the walls that were surrounding. The floor was dead silent that the slight breeze that blew down the hall sounded like it was whistling to her. There was nothing in the desolate hall except for the ghostly memories in Meg's mind that always haunted her in the darkest of places. She wasn't even sure that it was a memory. It could have been a nightmare from a long time ago. But she remembers walking around aimlessly in the darkness without any purpose besides running away from something. Like a bullet wound it was etched into her mind that could not entirely heal and became more distorted as time went on. The ghost walked around her in a pattern of fear and death around her but they faded away after she no longer paid attention to them.

She stood in front of her hotel room bewildered at the insane statement that had come from the little boy's mouth only minutes ago. She had put him to bed and had wandered blankly back to the end of the hallway near the stairs where her room were stowed away, hidden from prying eyes if people didn't know where to look.

**What if he were telling the truth, that Christine and he were from a different time?**

**No.** She shook her head foolishly. **I'm being silly. Gustave is just a little shaken up, he is only making up stories in he is making up stories in his head to calm down. It can't be true. It is too absurd; those things only happen in books. He is just trying to cry wolf. She can't be a fraud. Christine is Christine. She is the same Christine as she was before and always will be. He is just lying.**

**But what if he wasn't? **

It was becoming difficult for her to be able to think straight. What are truth and a lie anymore? They were described as opposites but as time passes the lies you tell yourself start to become what you think is the truth to you. Are both entwined together in a web of vines that support each other, so they can grow together, or is it a balancing act that is teetering between the two? There seems to always be a bit of truth in every lie while in contradicting that there is some lie in every truth. When does the tall tale end and honesty of a child begin? Everything seemed topsy-turvy to her as if it felt like the world was spinning rapidly around her like a top. Her mind was trying to make sense of all of it but it was failing the mind battle wretchedly, only making her fall deeper into the dark void of confusion. Her head was throbbing. She could no longer comprehend what was fiction and what was reality.

Two sets of footsteps were coming her way. At first they were softly but soon became increasingly louder as seconds ticked on. Instinctively she shrank into the wall to be hidden from them until she finally opened the door and hid behind it with her back pressed against the wall. Why was she acting like a child hiding from her parents like she was in trouble? It was stupid. Those footsteps were just noises, nothing more. They would soon leave and she would be left alone. She waited until they passed by and walked away to give her peace so she could go and think but they didn't. They just stopped in front of her door. No more footsteps. This surprised Meg; there were only a few rooms on that floor and Meg's was one of the only people that lived on that floor.

She turned around slowly and gingerly she opened the door so that barley a crack to let any light in she look through her peephole on the door and listened carefully as the voices flowed into her room from the crack. They were only shadows that were barely visible in the darkness of the dimly lit hallway that to her they looked like ghosts.

But they were ghosts to her; of people that she once had trusted with all her heart that she would lay down her life for.

"Is something the matter?" A male's voice inquired. "Ever since we passed the docks you have been acting peculiar."

"Erik, I don't know what to do." A woman's voice confessed. Her voice was strained and filled with agonizing despair. It had to have been Christine's but it sounded so different from the Christine that she used to know.

"What happened?

"Raoul, he wants to take Alexander and me away, back to Paris, to get away from here... to get away from you…"

"I won't allow it."

"I tried to talk him out of it but he is keen on leaving. If we get separated what will happen to us?"

"It will be alright, Roxanne." Erik's voice said comforting Christine in a low sweet voice that he used on Meg when she was frightened.

"What will we do? I don't know how we are going to be able to get back this time. There was no door, no magic trap door, no anything that brought us here."

"Don't worry, I promise I will get you and Alexander back home." Erik reassured her.

"But what if you don't come back with us this time and you are stuck here? I can't lose you again."

She saw the taller shadow wrap its dark arms around the shorter one. Meg felt something burn in the pit of her stomach. She could barely hear Erik as he whispered. "Don't worry, haven't I always come back to you. Mon cherie, we are fated together. Wherever you go I go also. Neither time nor space can part us for eternity. Everything will be alright. I'll make sure it will be."

"Alright."

"So where is Raoul?" Erik asked, slightly redirecting the conversation.

"Down at a bar by the water, why?"

"I might visit him and persuade him on extending your trip."

"Erik! Don't you dare think that I'd let you go and-"

"I won't do anything rash, I promise."

They were silent for awhile. The only thing that she could hear was their breathing and soft cries coming from the woman. Finally she heard footsteps again walking away from her then she heard the soft click of a door closing off in the distance. Meg didn't realize that she was holding her breath until she started to gasp for it.

Meg opened the door a little wider so that she was able to poke her head out. She leaned against the wall to support her or she was going to fall. Clutching the key around her neck she felt like she was about to cry. The only thing Meg could here was her heart beating in her chest. The steady drum continued to beat with each passing moment. Nothing made sense to her now. Everything around her seemed to become distorted and twisted every way.

"I don't believe it." Meg whispered to herself aloud, barely audible to her own ears.

She could barely breathe.

She could barely think. Her head was pounding and throbbing that she felt like she was going to lose her mind. She had no idea what to do or what to think. To her she felt like she was in purgatory. Nothing made sense to her. She tried to think but it hurt way too much.

Then she started to run down the hall. She didn't realize that she had taken off. Her heart felt like it was about to burst and her eyes stung with tears. She kept running away as fast as she could from her floor. However she slammed into what felt like a brick wall that made her stumble backwards a little.

"Sorry Mademoiselle I didn't see you." A loud booming voice apologized sincerely.

Meg looked up to try and see the face of the gorilla that she had run into. She smiled weakly. "Hello Barnaby. No I'm sorry, it was my fault."

When she tried to hurry by but the giant stopped. "Whoa where are you going little missy?"

"Nowhere in particular. Just some place to clear my head."

"Meg?" A voice called out behind them.

She turned her head and saw a woman come closer to her. Peering in the darkness she saw a familiar face: Charlotte's. A new warmth filled Meg's stomach. Meg had known her for about 8 years and she has gotten close to Meg by acting like Mom or a caretaker. When Erik was busy Charlotte was always there. Charlotte's face was thin with gentle curves around her cheeks. Her eyes sparkled a glimmering hazel that was comforting. She was taller than Meg and slightly plumper than her but to Meg she still looked beautiful. Her light brunette hair framed her face in a bob that was wrapped in curls.

Charlotte looked like she was in her late thirties or earlier forties but no one who worked at Phantasma. Actually no one knew much about Charlotte or where she came from or who she really was but to Meg it didn't mean anything.

Squelch moved aside so that the woman could get by.

"Meg, is something wrong?" Charlotte asked again. "Did he do something to you?"

When Charlotte accused Squelch he raised his hands in defense. "I didn't do anything to the Little Mademoiselle, Ms. Charlotte."

"I'm fine." Meg tried to reassure her. With a fake smile she laughed. "I ran into Barnaby by accident; I wasn't looking where I was going. I was just going to go and clear my head."

"Oh, so everything is just fine?" Charlotte inquired.

Meg nodded.

"Well, that is good." She turned to Squelch. "I am sorry to assume the worst of you."

"It is alright." Squelch said cheerfully. "If I were you I would do that too."

Charlotte nodded and pulled Meg aside. "If you want to clear your head take a long swim. After that go to the bar just off the Pier and ask Bernie for a cup of black coffee. Tell him to put it on my tab. It will help you think."

"Thank you." Meg ran off out of the door and waved back to them.

...

The water around her felt cold and refreshing as she floated on the surface. All around the black water silence surrounded her. It was welcoming and peaceful. Even with the water gently rocking her it made her jolt up so she could swim closer to shore again, she felt completely at peace. Each time that the waves moved her Meg's mind grew less fogy and more apparent. She was able to listen to her thoughts as she heard the waves crashing on the shore.

And when her mind was entirely blank was when her thoughts began to crowd in.

**No, it couldn't be true.**

**Could it? What Gusta- alexander said is true. Christine is really this Roxanne. If so I have been lied to for half of my life. What else have I been lied to about? And she not married to Raoul but to this Destler person. If Erik knew he would be crushed.**

Then something clicked. She remembered back to when Erik and her first came to America.

_"We're here petite Ballerina." Erik had announced waking Meg up by lightly shaking her. She had fallen asleep in his lap and Erik's cloak was draped across her shoulders. She was sore and tired; she didn't want to move from her spot because it was so comfortable. But when Erik had said that they had reached their destination Meg slowly opened her eyes and looked up at his masked face. He smiled and gestured to the port hole. She propped herself up._

_"Are we really there?" Meg asked incredulously. It had been a rough couple weeks of hiding in the luggage hold without being caught. There wasn't a lot of space between the bags. Most of the time it was hot and the rest felt like it was like they were in Antarctica. There was barely any food and there was nothing to do but wait. At night after the officers checked for stowaways Erik would sing to her to help her fall asleep as the boat would rock her. Erik almost always by her side. Even at the worsts of times he would be there and protect her. He looked at the light at the end of the tunnel and promised her things in America will be better. But Meg couldn't be optimistic. It seemed like they would never get there sometimes. _

_She stood up to see out of the small port hole and Erik followed._

_Erik nodded. "Here let me help you see."_

_Meg, being small for her age as she was, was lifted up like a rag doll on to some crates so that she was eye level with the porthole. She looked out and saw an giant iron green lady who was holding up a torch and a book. The lady was dressed in robes of metal that wrapped around her body like she was a Greek goddess. On top of her head was a green crown that lay on green curls. She was so beautiful and strong that Meg felt a sudden warmth in heart that made her feel proud and excited._

_"Who is that?" Meg had asked._

_"That is the Statue of Liberty." Erik had informed. "Did you know she was crafted by a French architect?"_

_"Really?" Meg's eyes rose in excitement. _

_Erik nodded his head and stared back out to the Iron Lady again. "Mon Cherie, I'm home."_

_Meg had wondered what he meant by that but she didn't press on. She looked back at the harbor and smiled. Suddenly a loud bang came from behind them. They turned around and saw a large man standing in the door way. Erik lifted Meg down, holding her in his arms protectively. The large man came closer to them and when he came close enough to where Meg could make out his features Erik placed her down and stepped between Meg and the mysterious man. _

_"Monsieur Erik?" The giant inquired._

_"Yes?" Erik answered hesitantly. Erik might be tall but he knew when he might have met his match. He knew that he had to be careful._

_"I am here to escort you to your residence." He said. Bending down on one knee he directed his attention to small Meg hiding behind Erik. "Mademoiselle, welcome to America."_

_Meg smiled and nodded in response._

_The giant redirected his attention back to Erik and extended his hand. "Barnaby Squelch, at your service."_

_Erik accepted the hand and shook it while looking Barnaby in the eye. "Erik."_

_"You got a last name, Erik?"_

_"Destler." He responded casually. "Erik Destler."_

Meg opened her eyes and swam back to the surface. She splashed and spluttered water out of her lungs as she tried to swallow the thin air. Smoothing back her hair she shook her head.**It's just a dream, a nightmare. Oh, please someone wake me up.**

But it wasn't a dream and it wasn't a nightmare. It was far worse; it was reality. Meg didn't understand how it was even possible for Erik to have gone to the future and then come back without even aging or where Christine and Gustave went but she knew that it was true. Everything made sense. **Christine is not who she says she is. Who is she then? I have been lied to for so long. Who was the person that held me when Mother died?**

...

"One more." Raoul ordered the bartender as he slammed his cup down.

The bartender walked over while he was cleaning glass. "Hey buddy, don't you think you had enough?"

"One more I said!"

"Alright, alright. You don't have to bite my head off." The Bartender grabbed Raoul's glass, walked back to the tap and poured another drink then slid it to him. "Here!"

He walked back over to his counter to finish cleaning up.

Raoul just shook his head at his sudden display of his temper. He was ashamed of himself, in how his temper would flare or how he treated Christine or his debts but that all went away with the drink. He could forget, even if it was just for a moment, all about how Christine would tell him that she regretted choosing him. That was what sent him into the hell he was living. The look in her eyes when she looked at him and Gustave tore at his heart. There was no escape. He was constantly reminded that he was a mistake. He could hardly look at his own son without being reminded of the fiend. The drinking made the pain go away, his troubles just faded away as he drank. Gambling helped him cope even more except at the moment he didn't have enough money to distract him. So the bar was like a welcoming old friend to him that greeted him with open arms.

"Are you alright buddy?" The bartender asked. He placed a hand on Raoul's shoulder but he only shoved it off. "Man, you got it ruff, don't ya?"

"Leave me alone."

"My shift is over anyway, so let's settle the bill, okay?" The bartender announced. Raoul didn't respond. He only turned his back to him more. "Jeez, you're in a bad way ain't you? Worse than most that end up here."

Raoul nodded and took another sip of his whiskey.

Gesturing to the man putting up his coat and hat and was heading to the other room the bartender placed his rag on the table and started to head out. "Here's the morning shift, maybe he'll know what to do with you."

"Yes, what to do with me, that is the question, isn't it? That's always been the question, ever since the beginning." Raoul laughed as the bartender left. Taking another sip he bent his head down in disgust. In his mind he thought about Christine. His Christine. She seemed to act different lately, like she transformed back into her normal self again.

The door slammed opened and someone came rushing in, disturbing Raoul's self pity.

...

_Meg_

"Hello Bernie! Coffee please, I'll take it black and put it on Charlotte's tab." Meg called as she ran in drying her hair. She stopped abruptly when she saw Raoul at the bar staring at her. "Hello Raoul."

"Mademoiselle Meg." He greeted. She looked at him stunned. It surprised her how old and worn Raoul looked. Meg remembered him back in Paris, so young and alive, that it scared her to see him in such a state.

"Do you know where you are?" Meg walked closer and sat down next to Raoul who was looking down at his drink again. He seemed like he was dead.

"Hell, I imagine."

Meg laughed weakly. "Close enough. Around here they call it suicide hall. It's where people end up when they have nowhere to turn to. Do you believe in Heaven and Hell?"

Raoul sighed. "I do believe there is life after death, or at least I hope so, and that God has a plan for us already set out for us that we cannot change."

"I believe that we are able to change our fate and that we can prove to God, if there is even if any, that we can change and grow."

"Once your fate has decided you can't change it." Raoul declared. "At times I believe that I am a living corpse in this hellish world and that I can't change what I have become. This place is an introduction to what I will be facing after I am in my grave."

Meg looked around and pondered for a while as Raoul drank. Something was not right to her. This place wasn't what many thought it was. It wasn't like a hell that she imagined. It was something different. It was like a place that she read about a long time ago. "I think it's like a place where people go when they are stuck in between. It is a place that you must go when you have gone something terrible and you just want to get rid of it. The people that come here don't have anywhere to go. They suffer. They either hold on to the past or they don't want to face the reality that they're in. It is a lot like Hell to them but it's different. They're just stuck."

"Like Purgatory."

Meg thought for a moment in silence. "Exactly."

"Why are you here?" Raoul asked. Meg could kind of see worry in his glazed eyes but it might have been a trick of the light.

"To clear my head." Meg answered.

"How?"

"If you just step off the pier all your troubles just drift away." She looked off into the distance for awhile. Closing her eyes she smiled. "I went for a swim just off the pier. Sink into the sea, blue and cool and kind to leave all the hurt behind."

Raoul nodded and took another drink. "Sounds nice."

"This town is coarse and cruel, it is hard to keep a conscious free. But somehow I have been lucky, I haven't been branded by its cruelty yet."

"Really?"

"I don't believe I have. I haven't broken any laws. Unlike most here I don't steal or sell myself to the Devil himself. I remember who I am and that keeps me sane."

"I'm surprised." Raoul confessed.

Meg tilted her head. "Why is that?"

"I would have suspected that living with a monster would have tarnish your morals. I am glad to see you haven't been dirtied by his way of life." Raoul joked, laughing to himself as he drank.

Meg became real quiet. The energy around her grew darker the dark side of the moon at night. Her expression was grim and threatening that Raoul stopped drinking and looked at her surprised. Anger was brewing up in the pit of her stomach. Even if she was lied to by the person that she trusted most in the world she wasn't going to sit around and listen to a drunken shameful man dehumanize a man who she looked up to. It offended her. She was insulted by it. How dare he assume that she could have been led to that way of life? She might have been naive when she was young but never stupid. Meg knew from right and wrong. She learned how to survive the cruel world while still maintaining her pure mind and it was no thanks to him. Erik had done a fine job of protecting her and teaching her the ways of life. He was a good father and a loving friend to her. Raoul could never understand the kindness and the courtesy of Erik so he was in no position to say that. Had he not himself been led to the unmoral side of the world? He had no right to say that to her. It disgusted her to listen to a man who has sunk so low talk about the man who raised her for the last ten years.

She wasn't going to hear him utter one more snarky comment. She stood up. "You shouldn't have come here. Leave now. He is coming and may God have mercy on your soul because he won't." She turned to walk away and right when she reached the door she paused. "Goodnight Raoul. I hope you find a way out of Purgatory."

As she ran out the door into the cold night's air she could hear him call her name after her. But she didn't look back. She kept moving forward and into the light. She wasn't going to be stuck there for long. She wasn't going to be eaten by grief and sadness until there was no hope or happiness left to sustain her. There was so much that she was grateful for and so much that she needed to discover the truth about. She had to find out who the woman that she thought was Christine was and why Erik had kept her in the dark. It now fueled her to keep pushing forward and to live.

Something stopped her as she was walking on the pier. She ran into someone and before she could apologize the figure spook in a familiar voice.

"Pardon mademoiselle. I didn't see you there." The stranger looked down at her and his eyes grew wide in shock when he recognized her. "Meg?"

She looked up and gasped. "Marco!"

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Love Never Dies.**

**Hi again. I know this is a couple days late but at least I update frequently (this is my way of escaping society while being productive). I am happy that I wrote this Chapter because you can see how I think that Meg is and she has a special place in my heart. You know that corner where Erik, Howl, Baron, Haku and Jack Frost don't take up ;) None the less I hope you liked it and that this story is worth your time.**

**This story I have been more centering it around people other than Roxanne and Erik because I believe that in the other I had a lot about them and their love and that was all it was really about. But in this one I am trying to capture what is truth, trust, love and who people are when they are thrown hardships at them. I hope that you like how I am trying to distinguish between the two stories.**

**Alright now the Review Request. This was sent in by Eponine Sparrow a long time ago.**

**"Reviews are nice, reviews are great,  
they wash the writers' block away.  
Encouraging and kind,  
they make me want to write,  
and update quickly too,  
so please, make sure to review.  
And I'll write faster for you..."**

** Thank you for taking the time out of your day to write this. I appreciate it so much. I'm sorry that I have used it yet but I was waiting for the right time and to the others who sent one in I promise that it will be posted soon, so please wait a little longer.**

**As always Thank You and see you all next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

_Raoul_

Raoul was busy laughing and taking another drink of his whiskey, thinking he was so clever, when he suddenly heard the sound of a chair screech across the hard wood floor next to him. He turned his head quickly to see Meg standing up, facing him. Meg's face covered by the dark brown hair that dangled over her eyes. Her hands were clenched in fists so hard that it made her knuckles as white as sheets. She stood there silent for a moment without saying a single word or making a noise. It looked like she was about to erupt in tears and angry threats at any moment. But she didn't. Meg only stood there, completely still, like a life-size statue like the ones you see in museums. She didn't move a muscle or made a motion to move one. There was a noticeable difference in her presence. It was no longer the cheerful childish one that Raoul had grown accustomed to but an older more daunting one that deprived him of speech. A bead of sweat ran down the nape of his neck and down his back.

She finally looked at him. Her eyes had grown much older yet they still had an evil spark in them that knotted at Raoul's stomach. He backed into his chair in fear as she took a single step toward him.

"You shouldn't have come here." Meg warned. Her voice had frozen into an icy tone that chilled the air of the room around them. "Leave now."

It was as if all of the warmth from the drink and the lamps and dimmed into nothingness and left a hollow space in their absence. It sent a wave of coldness that pierced Raoul's body, leaving an aching hole in his core. As she glared at him Raoul was unable to turn away. That feeling that he felt as he looked in her eyes was probably similar to the way the Medusa's victims felt as they stared into the cursed eyes that immobilized them into stone. He felt like he was frozen in ice that left him unable to move or talk. In her eyes it was like they were attacking him without her even lifting a finger. There was no kindness or sympathy; only emptiness.

She turned her gaze to look at the clock on the wall of the bar. Raoul saw that she seemed so surprised by it. But he couldn't understand why it was only 12:00 in the morning. Well that is usually late for many people but he is usually was out late drinking and playing poker until 3 or 4 in the morning.

As she stared at it she took a breath then quickly turned her attention back to Raoul. "He is coming and may God have mercy on your soul because he won't."

He had seen those eyes before. Somewhere. A long time ago.

**Are they like Madame Giry's eyes?** He asked himself. **No. That didn't seem right. They are the same shape and color of Madame Giry's eyes but the way they look is different. They weren't as cold, even when she was crossed. **Raoul continued to try to solve out the puzzle in his head. **They are someone else's. But who's?**

He watched Meg as she walked to the exit. The way that she moved was almost ghostlike. She hovered off the floor instead of walking across it and was able to avoid objects like they simply weren't there. Raoul sat there like a statue, unable to react or say anything. Meg didn't have to say the name. Not that horrid name that he loathed. It was him, Red Death and he was coming like the Grim reaper to exact his revenge on Raoul by killing him and taking what Raoul loved most. But how did the monster know where he was? Did she mean that Raoul shouldn't have come to the bar or to America? Either way he was regretting both at the time. Should he run? Would he be able to reach Christine and Gustave and get them ready to leave back to Paris? Was he too late to save himself?

Meg stopped at the door, looking out into the night. She seemed so lonely and sad while she stood there. Slowly she looked back at Raoul and smiled gently. "Goodnight Raoul. I hope you find a way out of Purgatory."

Then in one fluid motion she ran out of the door.

Raoul remembered who Meg resembled. Something from that Phantom had rubbed off on Meg. The way that she moved and walked sometimes became apparent when she was upset or 'dead' inside. She had become more like him. The look in her eyes that watched him like he was prey matched that of the fiend perfectly. This didn't bother Raoul. No, it frightened him more than anything. It sent chills that scurried down his spine at the mere thought of the monster.

"Meg?!" Raoul finally was able to call after her. She didn't answer. He ran, more like stumbled, to the door so that he could catch her but she was too quick for him even though she wore a full skirt. Meg had disappeared into the darkness. The faint smell of chamomile lingered in the door frame but soon disappeared also. She was gone. There was no sight of her and his cries only died in the wind. It might have been the drink that had slowed him down or it was that he wasn't as quick as he used to be. She had escaped like the devil was right behind her nipping at her heels.

Meg had left him.

**Like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.** He shook his head to clear it of such nonsense.

No, he wasn't the lamb, he was the hunter. He would hunt down that wretched beast that plagued their lives not run away like a frightened bunny. More like the monster should run away from him. He puffed up his chest like a spoiled child and cried after her. "Let him come! I have bested him before and I can best him again! I am a better man by far! If he ever had the courage to meet me face to face, man to man, he will fall like Lucifer fell. Good will triumph over evil again. I am not afraid of him!"

A loud clang of a metal pipe rang through the streets. It frightened him so much that he jumped so high that he nearly hit his head on the door frame. He investigated the noise and found a large white cat walking out of the alley way and along the pier uncaring on the mess that he had made. His hand flew to his heart. It had gotten close to flying out of his chest. A million prayers and thank you to God was uttered under his breath that it was only a damn fat cat. The beast must have heard this because it looked like it glared at him before walking away into the darkness like Meg.

The dark night chuckled and whistled at Raoul's jitteriness. It seemed to him that everything around him was mocking him in a way. The cat had walked away but it seemed like it was laughing at him though. It fell silent as if to mock him for saying ridiculous things. He shifted uncomfortable as he looked out into the darkness but in the blackened sky the stars shone down on him like they were watching him from the heavens above. The only ones who could hear him was the lone wind, himself and the new bartender who was cleaning up the bar behind him. Looking to the heavens the harvest moon shone down on him in a light orange glow but a dark cloud washed over it leaving the streets dark and cold. The only light was a gas lit street lamp but even that was flickering on and off. There was nothing left out there. Nothing moved or made a single sound except for the leaves rustling in the wind.

He was safe for now but how long was now. Any minute he could show up and end Raoul's life without letting him say a word. Anger and determination boiled up inside of Raoul, fueling the much needed courage to face his fear.

"He is not Mephistopheles you know, his is only a circus freak who hides behind smoke screens and illusion. He is only a man. A coward at most and a rat at best." Raoul walked back over to the counter. "I am not afraid of him."

Raoul banged on the counter for another glass of whiskey. The bartender turned to face Raoul. It startled Raoul and made him jump back defensively as he saw the Phantom's face staring down at him. A horrid masked face looked back at him. Its face was shadowed and its eyes glared at Raoul.

"Not afraid, are we?" The Phantom asked mockingly.

"No, it can't be." Raoul whispered in disbelief. "It can't."

"Can't it? As you say I am only a man, am I not?"

"No, it can't be you."

"Who is the coward now?" The Phantom inquired. "Now the tables have turned, haven't they?"

"How did you find me?"

"It was not all that hard. I know every alley of this place, every shop on the street, every rooftop for miles. I own this town. There is nothing that I don't know what is going on here."

The Vicomte backed away from the counter as his old foe advanced toward him. "Stay back or I'll kill you, I promise you!"

"Kill me?" With a chuckle the Phantom dashed around the bar to be on the same side as the frightened Raoul. "Insolent boy, you can't kill me. I am invincible. I can never be killed. No matter how many times you try to cut me down I always come back for what I deserve, what is mine."

Backing away until he nearly tripped over the chair Raoul stayed silent. Then Raoul found an ounce of courage to advance his attack. "You can't have her. She is safe and far from your reach."

"Why would you think that you have the right to own her?"

"She is my wife."

"That gives you no right to own her soul."

"It does."

"She is a human being not a china doll that you can dress up and play with." The Phantom pointed out. "She deserves better than you."

"Your music might move her but she will always come back to me."

"You think so? You really think so? Can you honestly believe that she would want you?" He asked staring down at Raoul in a disapproving and malevolent manor. The Phantom continued on staring at Raoul with such soulless eyes. But that was just it, they weren't soulless. They were full of fire and hatred as he looked at him. They were cutting into Raoul's soul and were shredding it into thin pieces. Raoul was already losing the battle. Raoul remained silent as he watched the Phantom move slightly closer. A growing anger rose in him but it was render useless as fear immobilized him again. Seeing that he had Raoul cornered the Phantom pressed on with a slight smile that mocked Raoul. "Look at you, deep in debt, a stinking drunk, so pitiful. Such a wretched sight you have become that it is almost laughable."

"You are still foul as sin. Hideous and horrible. A freak of nature. You are the very being of ugliness. Not even a blind man would want to look at that monastery. You are an animal. No better that a rabid beast that is needed to be put down. "

"But I am still more a man than you, Vicomte." He stated calmly, completely unfazed by Raoul's insults. "Even with all of your…. 'charms'."

"What do you want for me?" Raoul demanded angrily. He was starting to lose his patience being toyed with.

"Shall we play a game?" The Phantom offered, pulling out three playing cards from out of thin air. This little card trick impressed and frightened Raoul as he watched the Phantom play with it.

"What type of game?"

"Oh, just a card game." He answered simply as he waved the cards around. Raoul watched them as if he was being handed the elixir of life. The Phantom knew that it was his Achilles heel and would exploit it as much as he could so that he could have the advantage. He could tell how confident Raoul was that he was going to win that seeing him be crushed would be the most satisfying site to see. Oh, the Phantom was ready. He could hardly contain his excitement and the game hadn't even begun yet.

Looking back at the Phantom he felt a driving fire in his core that told him that he had to take on him because this was the final battle. "Call the stakes and deal me in."

With a slight smile he placed it on the counter and he slid it to Raoul face down. Raoul stared at it but didn't dare pick it up. The red design on the back swirled and melded into a hypnotic dance that was entrancing to Raoul. It tempted him like the betting had. It made his heart race and his pulse quicken at the thought of playing this game. This was his realm of magic; he could show who the superior man was. Slowly picking it up to look at it he was confused. He saw that it was the King of Spades who was staring back at him. The Phantom held another card up in the air having the face for Raoul to see and even from a distance Raoul could scarcely make out the King of Clubs. This time he did not give Raoul the card instead he tucked it away into the pocket of his bartending uniform. After a moment's pause he threw the last card. It came flying past Raoul's head and stuck itself onto the wall where it stayed, defying gravity. Slowly Raoul walked closer to it to see what it was. It was the queen of hearts whose sweet smile was easily seen. He tried to peel it off but it wouldn't budge.

Looking back at the Phantom in surprise and horror his enemy stood there with a faint evil smile splayed across his lips. "Devil takes the hindmost."

"What are you playing at?" Raoul held his card tight in his hand as he was trying to figure out what his foe was planning. It made no sense at all to him. These cards held very little meaning to him except for play poker and black jack. They were worthless otherwise. They meant nothing. But if they meant nothing than why would the Phantom be so interested in them? It made no sense at all.

The Phantom walked to the bar slowly then took the Queen of Hearts card off of the wall and began to twirl it in his hands. "Tonight at 9 o'clock precisely is to be when Christine shall perform at the concert hall in Phantasma. She will decide then if she is yours," He pointed at the card in Raoul's hand then took out the last card that he possessed. "Or mine."

The Phantom continued to watch Raoul as he was trying to piece together the puzzle that he had laid out for him. "And how will she decide exactly?"

"She sings I win. If not, you win. Simple as that." He explained. Raoul could tell that the devil was enjoying tormenting and confusing him. It was like a clever game with him, like poker and was waiting to see if Raoul could guess what was in his hand. He thought that he had all the cards to win but Raoul could still beat him. "When she sings tonight you will lose."

"I won't lose."

"You will leave from here and disappear. You will cut off all your ties from her. You are to never see her again."

"And if she won't, if I win?"

"If she is not on stage by then performing the song that I have written for her than you and your whole family can leave. All your debts will be wiped away and you shall never hear from me again. No more troubles. No worries. A new life for you; isn't that what you wanted?" The Phantom reached his hand out for them to shake in agreement of their bet and with only a second's delay Raoul shook his opponent's hand. He nodded triumphantly. "The game is on."

Then, just as quickly as he agreed to the bet, Raoul pushed away from him in fury.

"You think you are under control and you fixed the dice, well I will gladly roll. Even if all odds are against me I will still be able to win." Raoul shouted. He wobbled a little but stabilized himself on the table. "I'll bet against the house. Hell, I'll even double down because I know who will win. I know _my_ Christine. She will always love me no matter what. I have won once before and I'll win her back again. Fortune is on my side."

The Phantom shook his head. "Don't get too cocky, Vicomte. You have no idea what cards I posses that could make your house come tumbling down. Don't play with fire when all you have is gasoline."

"You cannot win. There is nothing that you have that can beat the love that Christine and I have. You have already lost."

"Why would you think that?"

"We have a child a bond secure." Raoul declared triumphantly about to storm out of the bar. "Not even you can break that."

As Raoul passed him the Phantom whispered barely audible "Are you so sure?"

Raoul stopped dead in his tracks. "What?"

"Are you so sure?" The Phantom asked turning around to face Raoul.

"What do you mean exactly?"

….

_Erik_

Erik reached to his face and placed his hand over his mask. He felt the cool porcelain under his fingertips. It was so tempting to release himself of his bonds.

"What do you mean?!" He asked again, demandingly. "Tell me what you meant!"

He reached for Erik's shoulder and his shirt to turn him around to face him but when he did he saw the grotesque half of the skeleton face staring back at him with fiery yellow eyes. Erik pushed him away, almost throwing him to the ground. Placing the mask on the table carefully he turned his attention back on to Raoul who was cowering in fear as he was trying to stand upright.

"'Your' child is not like you, is he?" Erik taunted him with a ghoulish smile. This was the time when he would show Raoul his first card that will bring him down. "Such a child. It's strange. He is different, isn't he? He is not like you. His hair is far too dark as well as his eyes for them to come from Christine and you. The way that he plays the piano is not like Christine. He has the natural ability for music that neither of you have. He is smart and clever. You see, I am more like him than you are. You and him are too different. Are you sure that you are even the father?"

A voice inside his mind whispered evil thoughts that were know becoming his own conscious thoughts. _Kill him. _They whispered. _Take what is yours. Make him suffer .Kill Him! _Oh, how he wanted to see Raoul squirm like the little worm that he was. He wanted to relish in the moment when Raoul realized that what he knew was all a lie. All of the anger and hatred inside that was hidden away to guarantee everyone's safety and to keep him sane now powered him. He was done pretending to be the good guy.

Raoul stepped back in horror as he reached his hand to the level of his eye instinctively to protect himself. "Stop. You're lying."

"Am I?" But he didn't stop there, no; he was going to make Raoul's walls come crumbling down. "What if I told you that the woman back at your hotel was not Christine and that boy was not your son?"

"It's not possible."

"Oh no it is very possible. You see they are not from this time. They come from a time more than a century from now. And this isn't the first time that she has travel to our time. She came ten years ago to the Paris Opera house. That Christine that you fell in love with there isn't the same Christine that has lived with you for ten years but it is the same person who arrived with you to New York. Care to know who they are?" Erik requested "Their names are Roxanne and Alexander Destler. They are my family. Roxanne is my wife and Alexander is our son. They are not yours but they are mine so I am going to protect them even if it means breaking every bone in your body."

"You are just a murdering liar. A lunatic. Your words mean nothing." Raoul declared triumphantly as Erik walked closer to him. "I call your bluffing. You are trying to get inside my head but that won't work. I will win. Christine loves me and she will always be mine. She would never love a thing like you. You don't deserve her love, murderer. She will never be yours. Never. I have already won and you lost."

He held his ground even when his knees started to shake and his hands start the sweat. Every fiber told him to run, that it was dangerous, that it wasn't safe yet he ignored it. He had to hold his ground and show that he was strong enough to stand against the devil. But when Erik drew nearer Raoul panicked and grabbed his coat to leave.

Erik grabbed Raoul's throat. "She walks you leave together with pockets full and debts paid. If she sings you leave alone."

Then Erik hit Raoul in the stomach hard making him crumble to the floor in pain. With a pat on Raoul's back Erik proceeded to leave the bar after he placed his mask back on his face and smoothed back his hair. He grabbed his cloak and hat on the rack near the door and was putting on his dinner jacket. He paused for a moment as he reached the door to have one last satisfied look at Raoul trying to breathe again then he left the bar and walked into the darkness of the streets.

Erik put on his cloak and hat with a smile. Luckily there was no one on the streets then because Erik was frighteningly so happy that he might have killed someone without thinking about it. He hadn't remembered when the last time he had so much fun scaring the living daylights out of someone. It felt good to frighten Raoul and to bring his world down in chaos with the truth.

He walked off of the pier and into the abandon alley ways. Then he started to run. He didn't know what he was running from. It was definitely not the police or any other person because he could hear no footsteps but he felt like he was being followed. Maybe it was just himself that he was running away from. Erik ran as quickly as he maneuvered through the back ways until he thought he was far enough that he leaned against the wall breathing hard. He took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair.

This was not the way he had planned it to go.

**What have I done? **He stopped in the middle of the street.** I was being foolish. Damn! I couldn't control myself and now look what I have done. What will Roxanne say when she finds out? **

His head began throbbing and Erik held it in pain. **Ouch! Something is happening to me. **

His mind began to spin and contort the walls around him. He felt that he was losing reality and the darker side of him was surfacing, the one that he had no control over. Something inside Erik was devouring and driving him insane. He felt an agonizing pain in his head that seem to be like a knife being stabbed into his head whenever he tried to think. Every minute he was slipping deeper and deeper into it. Soon he would be unable to control his desires and would lose himself in his bloodlust. Erik tried to not lose himself and focus on something that kept him human.

He thought of Ange. His sweet little girl.

_No he didn't think of her he saw her right in front of him clear as day. Her curly blonde hair was tied up in two small pigtails with pink ribbons and she wore a white dress with sunflowers on it with a bright yellow bow on the back._

_He saw her, she sat with her back was turn to him but he could see that she playing with her stuff animals and was laughing. _

"_Ange." Erik called to her. _

_She turned around with an excited look on her face and she stood up to run toward Erik. He bent down and opened his arms wide to catch her but when she got close to him her eyes grew large with fright. He heard her scream wildly like she was having the most awful nightmares. _

"_It's alright. It's Daddy, see." He walked closer to her to comfort her but she thrashed about and cried louder. He was so stunned at her reaction that he took a couple steps back._

"_Baby what is it?" Roxanne came running in from the darkness with Alexander following closely behind. She rushes over to her to hug her trying to stop her tears. "Sweetheart it's alright. Mommy is here. What's wrong?"_

_Alexander watched them silently. They don't even notice Erik standing only a few feet away from them._

_Ange wailed and pointed in Erik's direction. Alexander turned and saw him. _

"_Stay away from us, monster!" Alexander ordered. "You freak. You monster. You devil!"_

_He kept on repeating the chant then soon Roxanne and Ange started to join in. Their voices grew louder and louder as they disappeared into the darkness. The voices still continued tormenting him but now in other people's voices._

"_Freak!" The Persian's voice yelled._

"_Monster!" the manager's voices shouted in unison._

"_Devil!" Raoul accused. _

"_I am not a monster! I am not a devil! I am a human being." Erik tried to convince himself but the voices kept laughing and chanting._

"_Freak!" Piangi roared._

"_Monster!" Joseph Bouquet's raspy voice howled._

"_Devil!" Carlotta screeched. _

"_Leave me alone!" Erik begged as he boxed his ears and closed his eyes. But that did no good._

"_Freak!" A Ballet girl._

"_Monster!" A stage hand._

"_Devil!" the audience cried._

"_Freak!" Meg screamed._

"_Monster!" Marco charged_

"_Devil!" Madame Giry's bloody corpse shrieked as she hung by the noose._

"_Stop it!" Erik demanded. _

_They laughed and taunted him as they sang their chant mockingly. "Freak! Monster! Devil! Freak! Monster! Devil! Freak! Monster! Devil!"_

"No!" He bellowed out into the wind. It was silent except for his heavy breathing. He was all alone now. There were no longer and voices in his head now. He leaned against the wall and sat down in defeat.

"Mr. Why? Is that you?" A voice asked.

Erik lifted his head to look down the alley way and saw a figure walking toward him. He stood up and grabbed his fedora. The figure walked closer and he recognized who it was. "Charlotte."

"Why are you here sir?" She asked.

"Just meeting with old friends." Erik placed the fedora on top of his head covering his eyes. "Looks like it's raining."

Charlotte looked perplexed and looked around up at the clear sky. "No, it's not."

"It is." A few tears streamed down Erik's face as he turned to walk away to the direction of the hotel.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Love Never Dies and I might never will so I don't see the point in saying this over and over again so please don't sue me or kick me off the sight.**

**Look at you foul as sin. Lazy, tired. Why don't you write a review Devil takes the Hindmost.**

**Sorry that it took so long and I'm crossing my fingers that it will be worth it. I have been so busy but it is summer now so I have enough time to write the next chapters. I really hoped you like it because I put a lot of work into it and I hope that it is to par with your expectations of Devil takes the Hindmost. After this Chapter I am going to start branching off from the musical a bit and play with the plot.**

**Please Review and get other people to read this story and tell me about the stories that you write so that I can read them as well. **

**Also to note (I know it is a long way from now but) I am going to announce on the last chapter what my next project will be so bare with me.**

**As always thank you for taking time out of your day to read this.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_Meg_

"How long have you been here?" Meg asked.

"A day or so." Marco told her.

"How do you like it here?"

"I haven't been able to look at the city." He admitted with a laugh. "I have only been able to check into my hotel. I was waiting for someone to give me a tour around."

"Oh!" Meg said. She blushed then decided to turn the conversation to him. "How is everything back in Paris?"

When she looked back up at him he was blocking his face with his cap then put it on and adverted his eyes from hers. "It has been going well. Everyone is fine. It is very different from America."

"And Daroga?"

"Dar—?" Marco asked puzzled, trying to figure out who she was talking about. "Oh you mean Nadir. He is doing fine. He got his job back after you left and has recently enjoying retirement. I have been taking his place as manager up until recently."

"You are unemployed?" Meg inquired.

He saw the sympathy in her eyes and waved his hands. "No. No. No. I have a job but I am no longer manager. The Opera House has a new owner and because of that it has had a sold out show almost every night."

"Who owns it?"

"You are looking at one of the partners."

Meg's eyes grew wide in amazement. "Really?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"That's wonderful!" Meg congratulated excitedly. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Marco was first surprised but then he was delighted by the sudden act of affection and wrapped his own arms around her waist. She released him and held his hand happily. "I am so happy for you."

"The other one is here in New York and he is one of the reasons why I came here."

Meg let go of his hand slowly when she realized who Marco was indicating. It was him. Erik. The man who had raised her for the past ten years was now Marco's business partner. The man who had betrayed her… The one who had lied to her… Someone who she had trusted.

"A lot has changed." She confessed. "It has been too long."

Marco chuckled a bit like he was also nervous. "It has been a while, hasn't?"

"You have grown up so much." Meg smiled looking up at him.

He moved a couple steps toward her.

She held her breath.

Marco reached out to Meg's cheek. Waiting patiently and with great care Marco summoned up enough courage to take a couple locks of her hair. She stared up at him, mesmerized, unable to lock away from his icy blue eyes. So many unladylike thoughts rolled in her mind at that point in time that it was undignified. Thank goodness that the mind is as silent as a book because unless you are reading it you have no idea what is going on. She thought he was going to kiss her but instead he just gently he tucked them behind her ear with a smile.

"And you have become a lovely woman."

Meg's cheeks burned and turned her face so that Marco could not see her embarrassingly bright red cheeks.

**Be still my heart! Shhh! **Meg told herself worryingly.** Oh, please don't let him hear how fast my heart is beating. **

It was so embarrassing.

She couldn't get a hold of herself. There at least a thousand small butterflies that were swarming in her stomach. She was unable to act properly. It was hard to think straight.

She felt like a small child afraid to talk to an adult who had just called her pretty. It hadn't been the first time someone has told her that; everyone that she had met noted that she was beautiful. It was quite common for her to hear that. Erik reminded her every day on how pretty she had grown since the day before but this was different. She had never felt so shy before.

"I have missed you." Marco confessed. "It has not been the same since you have left."

Meg's heart skipped a beat.

Marco stood there waiting for her reply.

Had she heard him right? He missed her? Meg blinked her eyes to see if it was a trick of the mind. But however many times she closed her eyes and opened them he was still in front of her looking straight into her eyes like he was looking at Aphrodite herself. She was so giddy and couldn't stop smiling. The lamp that was burning over them made a halo of light around their heads making the dark sidewalk less gloomy. It was almost magical. Every individual cobblestone was lit in such a way that it mirrored the starry night above them. The crescent moon over the horizon had a bluish tint to the light that reflected off the water.

It is... romantic.

**Romantic!** Dear God. Meg had to get a hold of herself. She had to get her head out of fantasy and back into reality.

She did have a crush on him ten years ago but that didn't mean she was in love with him now. Or did it? There was definitely strong attraction that she felt towards him and at that moment she wanted nothing more than to be with him. Was that what love was; a feeling so draw to the person that you would risk anything for them?

When she was a little girl she had always dreamed of a prince who could take her away to a place of fantasy. Was Marco her Prince?

Composing herself again she said as calmly as possible. "I missed you too."

She felt lightheaded. Her legs gave out underneath her and she fell to the ground.

Marco grabbed Meg's arms to steady her. She gasped his arms to support herself so she wouldn't fall again. Pulling her back up to her feet he asked "Are you alright?

"Uh-huh." Meg nodded her head.

"Meg?"

"Yes."

He looked down at where her hands were holding his arms still.

"I'm sorry." She blushed and tried to take her hands off his arms but was unable to as if they were two magnets that couldn't be pulled apart. "I'm sorry. I can't seem to move them."

Marco smiled at her inability to move. Just his smile lit a spark in her stomach. She felt so happy that she wanted to make him smile again. It melted away all the pain that had been eating at Meg's heart. She felt her body grow substantially lighter, making her feel like she could fly up to the moon and sit on it. He looked handsome. His piercing blue eyes radiated its cool color that warmed Meg's heart. He ran his hand through his dark hair to try to fix it after he took off his newspaper cap but failed by only making it more of a mess than it had been previously. His hair had changed. Underneath the cap it was darker than it was when she had last seen it. It was almost a dark chocolate.

He bent his head down as she tilted her head up. Staring at his lips then his eyes she could tell that he wanted what she wanted also. She saw the hunger in his eyes that reflected her own.

"Meg, there is something that I—" he tried to say.

But a scream filled the air and cut him off.

"What the—," Marco exclaimed then saw Meg start to run toward the direction where the blood curdling scream came from. "Meg! Where are you going?! Don't run! It might be dangerous! Meg!"

As Marco chased Meg through the twists and turns of the streets the cries of a woman were begging for mercy, for help. Something in the back of Meg's mind was warning her '**Danger! Danger! Run away! Not safe! Not safe!' **but how could she obey that urge when somewhere in the darkness a fugitive was hurting an innocent woman? No, she had to be brave. **Be brave.** She told herself. **Be brave.** For herself and for that helpless girl who was being attacked. If she wasn't going to be brave the least that she could do was act like she was. She could only image the type of pain that the girl was going through. That was what was propelling her through the streets to where the girl was. Each time she heard the mysterious girl cry it felt like her ears were ringing. It was not a choice but instinct to run to that danger. She had to focus on following the screams. It was like running through a labyrinth with only one clear clue to where the center was even when the surroundings were hazy.

A scream. Right. Right. Then a dead end. He thought that he had caught her but she quickly ran back to the intersection and turned left.

"Meg. Please wait!" Marco begged.

But she wouldn't listen.

Or at any constellation she couldn't hear him.

Even though she was hurting everywhere and the weight of the dress was getting bothersome she wasn't the least bit tire. In fact she was energized. Something inside her was beginning to change that was making her able to take an extra step faster. The adrenaline was breathtakingly invigorating. She felt like a gazelle running across the savanna or a wolf through the woods.

Left. Right. Another scream. Left. Up over crates.

With each scream they ran faster and faster. Their feet hit the ground that echoed of the walls and into the air so loudly it was like they were the only ones alive. Then the dark clouds covered the skies turning everything around them as black as night. It was getting hard to see. Soon they were walking along the wall for guidance. Marco couldn't see a thing and accidently ran into Meg. For a moment Meg had stopped. Before he could apologize she quickly darted right into a back alley.

It was rather troublesome to chase after her. Every time he was within reach of her Meg turned and was out of reach again. It was like cat and mouse except this wasn't as much fun. He was getting annoyed with having to chase after her and not in the way that he had intended to. It was becoming terribly painful to run. His lungs were beginning to burn as his feet start to ache as he ran after her and Marco was far from out of shape but she was as quick as a vixen. She was too fast for him and she was wearing a dress. Marco felt like this could go on forever or until one of them gave up.

Then it was quiet.

The screaming stopped.

Meg paused but only for a moment.

Again Meg turned a corner and again Marco had to run faster.

Marco was tired of running behind and was finally able to catch up to her.

"Thank God you finally stopped." Marco said gratefully. Placing a hand on her shoulder he felt her trembling as if she were soaked to the bone in December. "What is wrong?"

She didn't reply. Only thing she did was point down to the middle of the alleyway where she was staring at. Following where her finger was pointing at Marco saw what she had been petrified of.

"Oh my god!" Marco exclaimed horrified at what he was witnessing. Meg shivered and hid behind Marco.

In front of them was a grotesque mutilated body. Her dress was torn and shredded in a bloody mess. Feathers were scattered everywhere over the victim. Some were stuck on the dead body while others laid in the pool of blood around the her. Its mouth was wide open as if it were still screaming for help even after death. The face was hardly even a face anymore more of just a skull because the skin was stripped off the bone and the eyes were gauged out. A large gash on the neck was so deep that it was nearly severing the head off the body. There were several deep slashes in the abdomen. The hands of the victim were chopped away till only the nubs of the hands were left. Guts and limbs were scattered across the alley like a bloody puzzle that was nauseating. Blood was a splattered painting of red on the wall behind the mangled corpse.

"Oh my God." Meg gasped in horror. "It is Mimi."

"Who?"

Meg turned to Marco and hid her face in his chest.

Something moved behind them.

"What are you doing?!" a voice demanded behind them. Marco and Meg turned around to find Erik towering over them. Erik grabbed Marco by the collar of his shirt. "Who are you?!"

"Erik, that's Marco!" Meg tried to explain grabbing on to his arms to let him go.

"Meg?" He looked at Meg then back at the man that he was holding. "Marco?"

"Yes sir." Marco nodded.

Setting Marco down Erik looked at the two incredulously then looked past them at the scene behind them. He went rigid at the sight then looked back at the two of them. He had a haunted look in his eyes.

Behind him Charlotte ran up next to him. "What is happening? Eek!"

"Charlotte." Erik said. "Could you please take Meg back to the hotel?"

Charlotte nodded her head and wrapped an arm around Meg's shoulder. "Come. Let's get you cleaned up."

Meg looked at Marco and Erik as they walked over to the body. She wanted to stay and help clean the body up but they thought that it would be better for a woman to go and sit at home to wait for the men to get back. It made her angry to have them tell her to do that but she had to obey what they said. That was the way of the world.

"It must have been horrifying to have discovered that mess." Charlotte stated.

"Yes, horrifying." Meg agreed as they walked back through the streets of the city.

Charlotte sighed. "Now you don't have to worry about it anymore."

But she still was worrying about it. It didn't leave her mind, not for a moment.

"We'll let the strong men take care of it." Charlotte reassured. "Us women are too delicate for that type of stuff."

But Meg wanted to prove that she was strong. But to who? To Marco… Herself… Erik… Christine… to society? Did she want to show them that she wasn't afraid? She shook her head angrily to herself.

They continued to walk back to the hotel until they reached to where the main street was just steps away when something stopped Meg.

"Meg, let's go." Charlotte encouraged already out onto the sidewalk. "Come on."

Meg grabbed her skirts and started to run back from where she came from. "I'll be back."

…

_Marco_

"Her stage name was Mrs. Mimi Mimic. She was employed to me just recently. She has an aunt close to the city." Erik informed Marco. "She was one of the kindest performers that I had ever known."

"The poor girl." Marco stared down at the shredded carcass, taking off his cap in honor to be disrespectful. "No one deserves such a cruel way to die."

Erik knelt down to take a closer look at the carnage on her body. He looked at the gashes on the throat and abdomen to see how deep the wound was and how much blood was lost. Then he examined where the hands had been skillfully cut off. "This was done by someone who knew what they were doing. He cut all the major arteries as well as the most painful places that leave the victim in pain."

"A skilled killer?"

"Yes and a psychotic one at that." Erik analyzed the corpse as if it could tell them something about who murdered it.

As Marco watched Erik he smiled at the irony of what Erik had just said. "Hmm."

"What?" Erik asked.

"Nothing."

"I didn't murder her if that is what you are implying."

"I am sorry if I was giving you that impression, Sir." He apologized as he placed his cap back on. "I guess we have to dispose of the body."

Erik shook his head disapprovingly and stood up wiping his hands. "No. The cops will make sure her family is notified. They have the right to know what happened to this girl."

"Yes Sir." Marco nodded then turned back at the body in pity. "Who could have done such a thing?"

"I have made many enemies over the years so it could be a number of them. At least a dozen in New York alone."

"What?" Marco asked. Had he heard him correctly?

"There is a killer on the loose. We have to take extra precaution to secure everyone's safety at Phantasma." Erik told Marco. "Someone was targeting her because she was employed to me."

"How can you be sure?" Marco asked, unconvinced.

"She is my employee; someone who I consider to be like family."

"I understand that, but how do you see that this is directed at you?"

"Her hands have been chopped of as well as her eyes gauged out so she couldn't keep her hands at the level of her eyes. The gash in her neck is normally too high where you would usually slice ones throat almost as if it indicating the line where a noose would be around ones neck when being hanged. Finally is that her skin has been stripped away to reveal a corpse's face. A skeleton face." Erik reached up to his mask but quickly put his hand back down to his side again, clenching his fist angrily. "This was a warning."

"That means… there will be more?" Marco's eyes grew wide in fear.

"Yes and they will be targeting those who are close to me." Erik nodded confirming their fears. Something ominous filled the air between them like a brick wall that separated the two of them. He knew something that he was telling Marco. Something extremely crucial.

Marco felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Meg."

Erik didn't respond.

"Oh, My God!" Marco whispered. He started to imagine Meg all torn up and bloody, lying on the street alone and dead.

"Marco." Erik warned.

"We must protect Meg. She would be the next target. That monster could be out there right now. We have to protect her." Marco realized in panic. "She is the only family you have."

"Except for Alexander." Erik stated.

Marco paused and looked at Erik in surprise. "Alexander is here?"

Erik nodded.

"And so is Roxanne?"

Erik nodded again.

Marco groaned. "Don't tell me Ange is here as well!"

"No. No." Erik reassured. "She is safe and home. It is only the two of them."

"But how? I thought they were back in their time."

"I have no idea." Erik confessed as he ran his hand through his hair.

"You knew?" A voice said behind them. They turned and saw Meg staring at them with a bewildered expression plastered on her face. She was ghost white and it looked like she was about to faint. "You knew as well, Marco?"

Marco reached out to her but she took a step back from him.

She turned her gaze to Erik. There was so much hurt in her eyes that it was painful to see her like that. "You lied to me. You told me that it was Christine. You told me you loved her. You lied to me."

"Meg." Erik muttered.

"I hate you!" Angry tears filled her eyes. Then she ran away back out into the darkness leaving the two alone and stunned.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any Love never dies rights.**

**Hi everyone. I am so sorry that I haven't posted in forever. I know I'm a bad person but it was a phantom study break for me. I rewatched all my favorite Phantom movies as well as Phangirl over the new phantom of the opera themed scooby doo movie. so i have been somewhat productive.**

**A lot has came up and having writers block when I have had the time doesnt help in the least but I promise to be more on task next chapter. Thank you for being so encouraging Grapejuice101 and Eponine Sparrow. It has been a ruff writing month for me.**

**This was a hassle to write because I didn't know what to do. I hs isn't want it to be boring. Then I had to write Marco and Meg's reunited scene but had nothing. I had to watch countless romantic films to get inspirated. But I finally had a stroke of genius. Jack the Ripper! I was reading a book about him and had the idea of incorporating those try pea of murders in it. So if I became dark and creepy again, thank old Jacky here.**

**I am so sorry Phan3145 for killing your Character :(**

**now for the review request sent in from Eponine Sparrow**

**"Reviews are nice, reviews are great,  
they wash the writers' block away.  
Encouraging and kind,  
they make me want to write,  
and update quickly too,  
so please, make sure to review.  
And I'll write faster for you..." **

**Thanks everyone and bye ;)**


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